In the subsequent 32 years my work was paralleled by teaching in various colleges and universities. I’ve tried  to develop my own sensibility (rather than a fixed, easily tagged ‘style’) in awareness of both Eastern and Western traditions, the demands and possibilities of the contemporary/modern and, since the 1980’s, the challenge of new, digital technology and photography. On this, see the link below- ‘On-line info...’

The longest distinct painting series was the ‘4 shape’  series of the middle ’70’s to about 1990, about 14 or 15 years. (See Chronos, etc.). This series was an investigation into the art-esthetic possibilities of structural-pattern configurations using very limited shapes.

Drawing has always been an essential part of  ’being in touch’ and as a way of developing my visual ideas.

Printmaking has become a way to realize digital explorations, sometimes as ink jet prints and, recently, as solar etchings. (See my blog for more on this). Currently, all this is somehow involved in works that strive to make ‘formal’ sense while seeking an autonomous image which may or may not represent actual things but which invokes a sense of ‘import’ and the essential mystery of life’s experience.

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*Hasegawa was an influential Japanese artist/scholar and one of the first abstract Japanese artists. His own work was based in Zen-influenced Asian painting (with a Master’s thesis on Sesshu) and a profound study of western modern art.

***Diebenkorn was my graduate advisor and, as such, critic and guide.

I’ve been a painter since about 13 years of age. Initially, like most artists, I was entranced by the simple magic of image-making, getting something down that represented things of the world. In my home town of Boise, Idaho, there was a good collection of Plains Indian artifacts - painted shields and clothing as well as tools and weapons. There was also an Art Museum and a frame shop which had racks of color reproductions of paintings. These and a war-time fascination with drawing aircraft and making flying models of them made up my early motivations to make ‘art’. One of the first oils was of a burning B-24 bomber with parachutes dropping behind, a scene I witnessed over the outskirts of town where we lived. (There was an air force base nearby). Another, which I still have, was of my grandmother who patiently sat for her portrait.** That was a sharply observed work that resembles early American portraits.

Gifts of books on the development of modern art prepared me for art school (the Chouinard Art Institute) in the late 40’s, 1947-’50.  I made individual studies of Asian art, especially calligraphy and the closely related Chinese and Japanese traditions of sumi-e, ink painting. My other main influences under the Chouinard faculty were Bauhaus, Gestalt-rooted design, painting (Millard Sheets among others) and drawing. I studied sculpture for a time with Ben Wade and at the Los Angeles County Art Institute with Hal Gebhardt, essentially in the Henry Moore tradition of  direct woodcarving. In general, my studies with Los Angeles teachers variously referenced the ideas of the Mexican muralists, printmakers like Posada, folk art and the classic-baroque Western tradition of draughtsmanship and  its modern manifestations in the work of Picasso and other, then contemporary, artists.

I first studied printmaking  as lithography under Howard Warshaw. I saw a litho by Rico Lebrun (with whom I studied drawing at Jepson Art institute) on a visit to the Lynton Kistler studio in Los Angeles. This added to an awareness of woodcuts and serigraphy, a depression era technique used by many Los Angeles artists in the ’40’s. In Korea, (1952) I painted a number of works in casein on paper dealing with the ‘local scene’, mostly Chinese and Korean prisoners of war. I returned from that war to finish art school at the California College of Arts and Crafts (now California College of Art). In graduate school there, I worked with Sabro Hasegawa* and Richard Diebenkorn*** which added to a complex set of art-making ideas now being updated by the impact of New York Abstract Expressionists - Pollack, Motherwelll, Hans Hoffman, et al.. In 1955/6 the late Will Petersen and I formed the Bay Printmakers Society and in partnership with the Oakland Art Museum sponsored a national competitive print exhibition. A large percentage of nationally known printmakers, Leonard Baskin for instance, entered. Post graduate study at CCAC with Elah Hayes and Tsutomu Hiroi in sculpture added stone carving, toolmaking, welding, mold making and casting to the tool and idea box as well as enriching the Japanese sources.

Since 1951 my wife, Bernice (B) has been a constant and supportive art companion. Contrary to predictions, our shared enthusiasms and study trips have  enriched both our paths as artists. My main other major indebtedness is to certain colleagues, like Sid Chafetz, and to my students who excelled at creative challenge..

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1940’s

(click image for enlargement)

1970’s-’80’s

2008