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About me and my work   

          I  was born in Schenectady, NY in 1974 along with my identical twin brother. I grew up in a part of Georgia that was transitioning from rural to suburban and though I have made pictures since early childhood, I have been serious about it since the age of 14. My father was diagnosed with ALS that year and he died when I was 16. Afterward, I earned a BFA from the University of Georgia in 1997. I then walked the 2,200 miles of the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine in 1998. This allowed me to consider all I had seen, done, and experienced thus far in my life. It changed me in ways I am still realizing. I spent the next three years as a bike messenger in Atlanta. When I carried all of my possessions on my back, I could either work in sketchbooks or stop making art. I chose the first option and my sketchbooks became the center of my artistic practice. I completed two cross-continent bicycle tours in the United States and I continued to work blue collar jobs until I went back to school to support my new family in 2006 at the University of Oregon where I earned a bachelors in biology, a master’s in education, and I became a high school science teacher (my re-induction into the middle class). I taught for two years in a public high school in Springfield, Oregon, and ten years at an elite private school in Washington, DC. Finally, I went back to school in 2021 to earn a masters degree in studio art at American University.

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          My background, interests, and the importance of justice and neuroscience in education have influenced my artwork, and drive much of my academic research practice. In my artwork however, I tend towards the personal before the political. My research is, like my art, a journey towards understanding not a pronouncement of it. In my research, life, teaching, and art, I am interested in the journey. I ask questions and learn to ask better questions through the asking. As a young man and then as a hiker, I discovered that obdurate circumstances teach me; as a parent I found that my children teach me; as a teacher, I discovered that my students teach me. Each person I interact with gives me another opportunity to learn. Every day I hope to understand more. I hope to become better at teaching, parenting, learning, and making art by continuing to live and staying open to experiences I record in my sketchbooks.

          I work in sketchbooks every day. The notes I take, the journal entries and poems I write, as well as the sketches and visual experiments I record in my sketchbooks form the center of my artistic practice. My work usually starts with drawing and painting, though I work in all mediums and the detritus of life often finds its way into my 2-D and sculptural work. I let chance initiate many of my images; each painting I create is a portrait of the moments in time that lead to now—combined with the realities I cannot avoid.

       

Education 

1997

BFA, Drawing and Painting, University of Georgia

2008

BS, Biology, University of Oregon

2009

2023

M.Ed, Teaching and Learning, University of Oregon

MFA studio art, American University

Exhibitions

Solo

2022

Alchemy of Art, October, 'Drawings and paintings' Baltimore,MD 

DC Arts Center Nano Gallery, April-June,  'Drawings and paintings'. DC

2021

Snake Hill Tavern, Baltimore, Maryland - drawings and paintings’   August- September.

2019

The Cutting Room, Digital Backdrop for Leo Manzari / Clockwork  Manhattan, NY

Takoma Beverage Company, Takoma Park, Maryland - drawings and paintings’   January 13th- end of March, Opening reception January 20th. 

2017

8003 Takoma Avenue, ‘house show -retrospective- drawings and paintings’  

2015

 Plaza Art Supplies 8209 Georgia avenue, ‘Fine art - sculpture’   

2006

Jaw Breaker Gallery, ‘Eugene, Oregon retrospective- drawings and paintings’  

 Jaw Breaker Gallery Gallery, Eugene, Oregon, ' drawings and paintings’  

Coffee People, Eugene, Oregon, , 'drawings and paintings’ 

2003

Downtown Lounge, 'drawings and paintings’  

Six more solo shows in Eugene, Oregon , 'sculpture drawings and paintings’ 

2002

 Gallery of Unfine Art, ‘Fine art - sculpture’   

1996-2001

1997

Shows in Atlanta and Decatur, Georgia. Tucson, Arizona, SanFrancisco, California and Eugene and Portland, Oregon.

Brick Store Pub, Athens Georgia,  'drawings and paintings’

Group

2023

Katzen Museum, April-May,  "End Quote" MFA Thesis Exhibit, DC

2022

Katzen Rotunda, August 5-September 5, Cadmium blue collective,  DC

Portico Gallery, June-August, Cadmium blue collective,  DC

2020

Strathmore, January 11th-February 23rd, 29th Annual juried exhibit. Rockville, MD

2019

Takoma Community Center. December 7th, Holiday show. . Takoma Park, MD

Y:ArtGallery, December 4th-28th, Small works show. , Baltimore, MD

Snake Hill, December 6th, Holiday pop-up sale , Baltimore, MD

Night Owl Gallery, October 4-24th, Nocturne: competition. , Baltimore, MD

Glen Echo, August 31-September 2,  Glen Echo Labor Day Show, MD

Y: Art  Gallery, July- August, , Baltimore, MD

Yellow Barn Gallery, July. Glen Echo, MD

2018

Takoma Park Community Center, December,Holiday show. Silver Spring, MD

The Fridge.  November- December, (Sticker Expo).    Washington,  DC

Crafty Bastards, October 27th and 28th,  D.C. Navy Yards capitol riverfront.

Willow Street Gallery, September-October D.C. Show: "Unframed" 'fine art'

Bump n Grind, Summer,  Silver Spring, Show: "Song lyrics" 'fine art'

2017

Montgomery College, Silver Spring campus ‘Booty Candy  Props/set design'

2016

Montgomery College ,Silver Spring campus ’Natural Causes, Props/set design'

Montgomery College (Silver Spring campus) ‘Firebugs, Props/set design' 

2015

Takoma Park Community Center Gallery , Fine art- stop motion sets and sculpture' 

2003

Maude Kerns Gallery, Eugene, Oregon 'drawings and paintings'

Maude Kerns Gallery, Eugene, Oregon 'paintings and puppetry'

5 more group shows in Eugene 'drawings, paintings and sculpture'

2002

Haight Ashbury Street Fair, San Francisco, California 'Fine art'

2001

10 shows at various locations in Atlanta, Georgia

2000

Four shows in Tucson, Arizona

1997

B.F.A. exit show at Lamar Dodd School of Art Gallery 'over 40 pieces- paintings and sculpture'

1996-1999

9 shows in Athens, Georgia, 8 shows in Atlanta Georgia 'drawings and paintings'

Contact Me

541-870-6804

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