About My Paintings

I try to capture realistic representations from the perspective of a passing car or a person walking by so the viewer feels like they could walk into the painting. Ideally, the image brings back memories for the viewer of the place in the painting or of similar places that the viewer is familiar with. When I exhibit the paintings, it’s especially satisfying to have someone come up and tell me a story about one of the places I have painted.

My parents always said I was “born too late” because I have always had a romantic fascination for certain eras, especially the 1940’s. I love the Big Band sound and the music of Gershwin. I think the fashions of the 40’s were the most stylish and well designed.

Many of my earliest childhood memories are of cross-country car trips out west in the 1960’s. I remember the faded Burma Shave signs along the way and there would be at least one prolonged stay at a service station because of a flat tire or over heated engine. There we would get our bottles of pop from the chest type machines where you had to fish your bottle out of a maze like contraption. We ate at cafes and stayed at motor inns or motels with their neon signs blinking in the dark.

I enjoy painting places with character, but they are getting scarce. They might not make it on a postcard but they mean something to their community. If I'm lucky I find places that still exist and I can take my own photographs. Other times, I search the internet for old photos. The Minnesota History Center and Hennepin History Museum have been great resources.