I learned to read people before I learned to draw them. Growing up with cerebral palsy, I spent a lot of time watching — a raised eyebrow, a shift in posture, the half-second before someone decided how to react to me. I got good at it, because I had to. Eventually I started putting what I saw onto paper, and the watching became the work.
That’s still how I paint. My character studies — North American, African Indigenous, Asian subjects, rodeo and jazz personalities — all come from the same instinct: pay close enough attention that the gesture tells you more than the face alone would. I’m not after a likeness. I’m after the moment just before or just after the expression, the part most people paint right past.
I’ve also taught art since 1998, from preschoolers to adults, and it comes from the same place — paying close attention to whoever’s in front of me, whether they’re holding a brush or sitting for one.
Click on "Portfolio" to see my work.