About The Artist I am a native New Yorker, surrounded by art, jazz, dance and basketball as a youngster and nothing has change in over 50 years. I discovered for myself the world of Cézanne, Degas and most importantly Modigliani. Also noticed the relationships between Duke Ellington and Gershwin, Miles Davis and Beethoven, Romare Bearden and Proust. All of these artists have influenced my approach to how I view painting and the world. Current and Upcoming Exhibits Sept. 7th 2007 to Jan. 11th 2008 It's a Dry Heat, Group Exhibit Tempe Center for the Arts Tempe, AZ Sept. 18th to Oct. 18th Main Gallery Shemer Gallery and Museum Phoenix, AZ Recent one-man shows and group exhibitions: “Intention” September 2006, New York, NY Gallery-360, Scottsdale AZ The Park Gallery, Litchfield Park, AZ  Shemer Gallery Museum, Phoenix, AZ Cathedral for the Arts, Phoenix, AZ West Valley Art Museum, Surprise AZ Estralla Mountain Community College His work hangs in private collections in New York NY, Philadelphia PA, Cleveland OH, Columbus OH, Scottsdale AZ, St. Louis MO, Kansas City KC, San Francisco CA and Paris France. Artist Statement One of the many responsibilities I believe an artist has is to communicate to an audience a powerful understanding of their view of the world. On the way to doing this, there can be a lot of work produced that may fall short of this goal. Nevertheless, the artist must be persistent in the attempt to be understood. An artist has a relatively short period of time to create a bold and provocative interaction with an audience. The intent is to make them feel that the artist understands them and that the work speaks to and for them. This acceptance and understanding adds relevance to the artist's  complete body of work. It represents the entirety of all that has been learned and all of the artist's efforts to communicate. Not to say that being provocative or daring falls out of the realm of "COMMUNICATION", but just being provocative and not being understood, may not be productive. All of us, who believe we are artists, will have our productivity defined by audience acceptance and understanding and not always by critical acclaim. This definition is what adds relevance to a complete body of work.