About...
"Stein's Sugarhouse" (1985)
...My Painting Career
My painting career began when I took an adult watercolor class at the age of fourteen in the summer of 1969 - the same summer as the first moon landing. My grandmother bought me all the materials required for the class. Without her support and encouragement, I might never have become a painter.
I painted quite a lot as a teenager, then not at all for a number of years. Around 1980, I began painting again, developing a fairly substantial body of work over the next couple of years, much of which was purchased by collectors. Within a few years, newly married with a new home and financial responsibilities, painting time was squeezed out.
In 2007, more mature and established in my life, I found I missed the creative outlet that painting had previously provided me. I pulled out my old easel, my brushes (some of which I've had since I took my first watercolor class, many years ago), and my paints and paper. I have painted steadily since.
"Artist's Bridge, Newry Maine"
I have been fortunate to be able to make my living in creative pursuits throughout my life. But, most of my creativity has been channeled into realizing other people’s visions. Having reawakened the painter in me, I have committed myself to a pursuit of my own vision.
My subject matter reflects three life-long passions: nature, history, and architecture. I have lived most of my life in New England, and I derive tremendous satisfaction from capturing images of my home region and from the travel that my wife, Linda and I enjoy doing together. In our daily lives, as well as our travels, Linda and I strive to capture the beauty and wonder that surrounds us, she as a photographer, and I through my paintings.
I paint strictly in watercolor, in a style that lies somewhere between impressionistic and photo-realistic. I aim for an accurate representation of my subject, building each painting on a foundation of careful draftsmanship. I develop my paintings with a steady succession of washes, bold brush work and glazes, followed by more precise calligraphic strokes, while allowing my medium the freedom to impart its own vibrant flavor to the work. I love the transparency and immediacy of watercolors and celebrate the happy accidents of the medium, as well as its challenges.
...My Materials
I paint with materials that I expect will long outlive me and my prints are made using paper and ink that should rival the original. Currently, I paint on 140 lb. Arches paper - cold-pressed, mould-made paper of the highest quality - with professional-grade paints, mostly Winsor & Newton. I create my prints on the same Arches 140 lb. watercolor paper I paint on, using Epson archival inks. I mat my work with archival ragmats from Crescent.
...My Paintings and Your Computer
*A note about color rendition - the colors that appear on your monitor are dependent on many factors that are beyond my control. Please be aware that there may be variation between screen renditions and actual paintings or prints. To insure that you will be satisfied with your art purchase, you may want to buy a notecard of the painting first. The notecard will be a more reliable representation of the painting than most computer monitors.
Download my Portfolio
I've put together a sampling of my paintings, concentrated on my most recent work. I'm making it available as a PDF download. While I've made every attempt to match colors accurately between the portfolio and the original paintings, the images are still only adequate representations. In order to keep the portfolio current, I will be adding and deleting pages periodically, so the portfolio file that is available in a few months will probably differ from the one that's here today. Each file will include the date it was created in the file name.
Download the current portfolio (1.75 mb).