I began my artistic studies at Bristol Community College,a small community college in Fall River,Massachusetts,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.I continued my education 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,screwed up 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 screwing up phase 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.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,cartoons,tattoos,videos,but not the paintings(or the sound project for that matter).I do not do it as some exploration of color theory 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.I also rarely explain the meaning of any given piece beyond what little clue the title might give.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.Even if you walk away from it thinking to yourself,"There is something seriously wrong with that guy..",then at least you're thinking about something and I've done my job..Enjoy.

Addendum:Over the last couple of years,I have finally come to the realization that my paintings are about chaos and order and the point where the two meet.My work has,over the years,bounced back and forth between a very ordered style and a very chaotic style which tended to match the accompanying status of my life at the time.Chaotic life equals ordered paintings and so on.I was aware of this fact but being aware of it and knowing what to do with it are two very different animals altogether.So,whenever the shift came I put aside everything that I had been working on and went off in a new direction.While this held possibilities for growth again,I failed to see that the two could and should coexist.Over the last two years,with the influx of some health problems,my life has become a mix of chaos and order.The health issues create a constant sense of chaos while at the same time my life has had to become ever more ordered to prevent them from getting any worse.As I said elsewhere on this site,I don't want you to feel sorry for me as this situation has given me the time to figure a few things out.One of which is just how important that balancing act is to my work.