Tell me about yourself, where you live and your background/lifestyle.
I was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1951, and received a BFA from Miami
University (of Ohio) in 1973. After graduating college, I moved to New
York City to continue my education at The School of Visual Arts, and to
starve for a few years. I eventually became very successful as a
graphic designer, but decided to move to the country and work on my
artwork full-time in 1991. I currently live and work in the Hamptons on
Long Island, and will be happily married for almost three years in
July. I put a lot of time into my work, but also enjoy spending time in
my Japanese-inspired garden. My wife and I enjoy traveling, and I
photograph new material wherever we go, whether to Italy, Hawaii or
downtown Manhattan.
Who first influenced you artistically?
That’s a hard question, I’ve been praised for my artistic talents, since
early childhood. I was given my first one-man show by the elementary
school I attended in second grade. In my formal education, I was first
influenced by Edward Hopper.
What first attracted you to the Internet?
Early on, it was obvious to me that the internet would have a major
influence on the artworld. I was taken with the premise that an artist
could show a fairly accurate representation of his work to people all
over the world, and also could communicate via e-mail.
Does the Internet allow you to show your work as you would like: How
could it be improved to suit you?
The internet is still in it’s infancy, and many great things are yet to
come. Even though I have a state of the art system, people on the other
end may not. Though my images have been reduced to 72 dpi, it may take
too long to load (all of the images), and people may not want to wait.
Obviously, I would like to be able to show larger representations of my
work at higher resolution, but then people could copy or use parts of
the image, which is a problem.
What kind of artwork do you expect to be doing in the next 12 months
or so?
I never know, I suppose variations on what I’m doing now, I certainly
expect to keep growing. I can tell you that I’d be bored out of my mind
doing the same thing over and over. I could never be a Peter Max, or
Dali. I admire people like Robert Rauschenberg who could feel
comfortable trying things that aren’t safe.
Have you found other artists on the Internet like yourself?
No.
Is there anything about the way you produce your work that you
believe to be unique or unusual?
I think that every true artist (and this goes for every kind of art, be
it visual, theater, or music) is unique in that they put something of
themselves into their work. I feel I put my soul into my work, and when
you look at one of my images, you look at me. It’s almost like the
viewer is looking at my secret.