I grew up in Metro Detroit's Downriver where my father had a sign painting business.  The tools of his trade were down the basement: huge rolls of paper, lettering brushes, paint cans, wood, sheet metal, and fat jars of tempera paint.  My sisters and I loved to hang out down there while he worked.  To get us out of his hair, he would pour bright primary colors into jar lids, give us brushes and large sheets of paper, and we would paint while he worked.
That sensory experience was felt again when I took my first painting class at Wayne State. I knew then what I wanted to do.  My studies under John Egner, Robert Wilbert, and Bradley Jones were deeply influential.
Studies in the German language led to my year of study abroad at the University of Freiburg in the Black Forest.  On the side I also attended the Karlsruhe State Academy of the Plastic Arts.
​After finishing my BFA at Wayne State University, I went on to Syracuse University and earned an MFA in painting.  There I was fortunate to study with Jerome Witkin who encouraged me toward narrative painting. After graduate school I worked in Germany designing sets for a theater group in Frankfurt and teaching art on the military bases for the University of Maryland's European Division.
In the years since I have exhibited in Detroit and Chicago while working as a free-lance illustrator for both local and national publications. I discovered a love of teaching at Wayne State University, the College for Creative Studies, Macomb Community College, and Oakland Community College.
My paintings are in private collections in the U.S., Germany, and Australia.























































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