Bio
Self-taught contemporary artist from New York. In 2017, after 30 years, I picked up a paint brush for the first time since high school. It was a moment of clarity - a sense of purpose. The following year, after two decades in advertising, I made a life-changing decision and left the corporate world to pursue my art full time.
Discovering my art was a long, arduous journey. Creatively oriented from a young age, my interest in art grew during my schooling years through painting, ceramics and design classes. However, doubt set in. An art-related career was vague and the expectations to be a successful “corporate citizen” were too great. I succumbed to the norm and went down the path of what was expected, what I was "supposed" to be.
As my career in advertising unfolded, discontent grew. However, I had reached a point where the idea of change was too frightening. Concurrently, I found myself caught in the grips of addiction which took everything from me, nearly my life.
Starting over in 2010, I entered recovery and have not turned back. As I immersed myself in the self-discovery process of recovery, my artistic interests rekindled. It took several more years to reach that “moment” in 2017. Once I embraced my creativity, a sense of joy emerged. It was the change my spirit needed, the catalyst for my true path.
From the beginning, it was clear what the focus of my work would be. The nature of my life experiences - childhood trauma, conforming to the norm, fear, addiction, recovery - led to the realization that I had a story to tell. My paintings are an introspective and vulnerable expression of myself, my journey in life - from the darkness of addiction to the hope and freedom of recovery. I bare my soul - to heal and to connect with an underlying message of overcoming.
In 2020, a few years after making one of the biggest decisions of my life, it dawned on me - while big, it was one of the best, most freeing and life-altering decisions. I had found, and was living, my purpose. My paintings were in private collections, I was accepted into an artist residency in France, my work had been published and I was exhibiting at shows. Perhaps most meaningful, my paintings and their underlying message were helping people.
A highlight of my events and accomplishments are listed below:
The Other Art Fair Brooklyn: May 2024
Published in Spotlight Contemporary Art: May 2024
Chateau Orquevaux Artist-in-Residence: March 2023
NYFA Artists With Disabilities Grant: August 2022
The Other Art Fair Los Angeles: June 2021
Piermont Flywheel Gallery Solo Show: February 2020
Miami Art Basel – Spectrum Miami: December 2019
Published in Capsules Book Curatorial Volume 2: May 2020
Published in Art Folio Annual: May 2020
Woodstock New-Paltz Art Festival: September 2018 & 2019