Art is what I do for business and pleasure. Linocuts (relief printing) grounded me in a graphic tradition going back more than 600 years. I am inspired by Audrey Beardsley, Felix Vallaton, and Jacob Landau. I want to entice the eye, satisfy the heart, and like a good dancer or athlete, I want the work to appear effortless.

I use one of my figure drawings, drawn from a live model. I then refine the drawing and establish the black and white patterns. With the preliminary drawing and refinements completed I can confidently begin carving the plate. Cutting linoleum or wood gives me a tactile feeling, enabling me to control a line's strength and character. Moreover, cutting the plate slows me down allowing me to incorporate new ideas stimulated by the developing image.

After experimenting with a variety of papers, colored inks, gold leaf, and gouache paint, I finally get to edition my "effortless" original relief print.

Artist Fred Babb made a sign saying, “Go to your studio and make stuff.” Good advice. I make Stuff. No pretense. I make images growing from my interest in fantasy, history and mythology. My etchings explore what we hope for and what we fear and how we cope with what we get - hopefully with some humor. I sketch out my idea, look at it, alter it, so, when I start the etching I can go full speed. I don't want to stop. I want to get the plate into the acid, etch it and proof it. I want to see my idea made real.

Working for hours or even days before seeing the proof of the image I've been creating is an emotional roller coaster of doubt, anxiety and high expectations. Finally, I see the embossed inked lines, subtle tones and richly textured surface of an etched print and I know the labor and stress was worth the effort.

In most of my paintings I use gouache, an opaque, quick drying watercolor. They have a flat look I like and then I coat them with a varnish to enrich the color and protect the painted surface. Often I use one of my etchings or relief prints as a preliminary starting point.

In the tradition of