I'm a representational painter in Lexington, KY. I work primarily in oil on panel and use figures and still life as devices to explore ideas about perception—nostalgia and memory, loneliness and attachment, duality, desire, and transformation. I typically use photographic reference to achieve a close enough representation of reality for the viewer to seamlessly relate to an image. During the painting process I alter pictorial elements to increase tension. Shadow arrangement and atmospheric effects allude to ambiguity and uncertainties. I’m especially interested in creating the sensation of quiet anticipation moments before something unknown takes place.

I received a B.A. from Eastern Kentucky University, where renowned trompe l’oeil painter-sculptor and instructor Ron Isaacs introduced me to painting. My education resumed a decade later in workshops instructed by Helen Oh and Andy Conklin (Palette & Chisel Academy, Chicago) on Dutch and Flemish figurative and still life painting techniques; David Jamieson and Melinda Whitmore (Vitruvian Studio, Chicago), whose color theory workshop was a game changer; and Shana Levenson in Albuquerque, NM, on painting from photos. After living in Chicago from 2002 to 2021, I returned to Lexington to be with family.