A little background first.I began my artistic studies at Bristol Community College,a not so prestigious little community college in Fall River,Mass.,which isn't to say you can't get a good education there.It's like anything else,whatever you get out of it is equivalent to whatever you're willing to put into it.There were too many times that I decided that what I should be getting out of it should be a severe hangover and a vague recollection of the events of the preceding night.But,I walked away from my experiences there with two things that have stuck with me to this day.I made a few really great friends and I discovered that I had an affinity for painting.You will find examples of two of my friends'work(David Aguiar and C.R.Boucher)within the pages of some upcoming Riverrats Press projects early next year.We continued our education together for a while at Swain School of Design in New Bedford,Mass.(now a part of UMass.)where I got to study under David Loeffler Smith.At the risk of being considered a name dropper(though I have been called much worse),I mention him as he had a great long term affect on me.He was,and is,a great painter who taught me many many things,not the least of which,was to follow my instincts when it comes to creating my art.At the height of my college career,I was working full time,as well as,going to school full time.As a painting major that meant staying in the studio and painting after classes were through.As I said,I was also working on my degree in the inebriation arts.I'd be awake for three days at a time and that's when David pointed out to me that I was lazy...For all the time that I spent saying that I was an artist I spent,at least,an equal amount of time partying and not doing any art.He was right.I thought that that's what artists did.Got drunk,did stupid shit and then spent the next day creating great art so they could feel better about themselves.I missed the part about using those experiences to fuel the creative fires though and sort of stalled in the doing stupid shit end of it.At the time,of course,I didn't see it that way and I left school.Odd thing is that shortly thereafter I sobered up and,even now,still sober I might add,I can never do enough work in one day to shake those words from my head!So,once again David,thank you.For me,painting is my purest outlet.My various adventures aside,since I connected with it in college,I haven't stopped doing it.For about a year after school,everything I had learned about painting basically, got in the way of painting.I was so bogged down by what a painting was supposed to be that I couldn't just paint anymore.The fun that I had had with it originally was gone and it took a year of work that I will never show anyone(most of it got destroyed along the way anyhow)to get all that art theory out of the foreground.It's still in there,but it's not the reason why I paint.When I paint,it's an act of pure aggression,plain and simple.I attack the picture plane as violently as I can,randomly at first,and then,slowly the images appear on their own.I don't stop until they tell me to.I let them name themselves.I would love to tell you that I have some great master plan but,I don't.Series emerge on their own as well and I try to just follow them to their logical conclusion.Currently the Black & White Man Series is starting to take up most of my painting time and I'll keep updating it as I get there.I can respect anyone who's process is different than what I've layed out before you but,that's just what works for me..A lot of my other art is done with an end in sight,so to speak,but not the paintings.I do not do it as some exploration of color theory(in fact I have limited my palette to black,white and red for the most part)or any other such lofty ideal.My only struggle with it has always been just finding enough time.I do it because I have to.If I didn't,I'd probably be searching for a fresh clip,if you know what I mean.I also rarely explain the meaning of any given piece..I've always felt that the story of the image is as important as the application of the paint,but,if I wanted to tell you the story,I'd just write about it.I want you to figure it out for yourself.What's the point otherwise??That's where the dialogue begins between the viewer and the art.If you can walk away from it saying,"what the hell was that about?",then I did my job.Enjoy.