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idwest born and raised, East Coast educated and long time Bay Area resident, I have experienced and enjoyed many landscapes. My painting style is an amalgam of all these influences, with California sun, at times, only a veneer over forms and spaces acquired somewhere between two shores. I begin some paintings on-site, in 'plein air', not only because of the unique light and ideas a specific setting affords, but also because of the society of people I paint with and meet locally. It is much about placing oneself "out" there, with the paintings acquiring finish from interior motives realized in the studio. I received a BA in Art History from Columbia College in New York, and have, over the years, acquired expertise in sculpture and printmaking as well as painting. I believe that in order to keep our art and lives vital, we must become lifelong learners. |
Robert grew up in Lorain, Ohio and graduated from Columbia College in New York City with a degree in Art History. Besides Columbia, he has taken courses in drawing, painting, sculpture and printmaking at a number of other institutions, including Washington Univ in St. Louis, Cleveland Art Institute, Kala Institute in Berkeley, Academy of Art College in San Francisco and International Fine Arts College in Miami, Fla. ost recently I have been working with poets in Crockett, and have added verse to accompany both paintings and wood sculptures. A current series of paintings focus on the Slopes of Mt. Diablo - a rhythmic and spatial movement from foreground hills to distant valleys, while another examines stacked 'Hay Bales' - a colorful and nostalgic look at the concept of abundance in the American landscape. Cows, in their dual roles of animating and decimating the local landscapes, continue to find expression in my art, as well as a group of paintings dealing with the high Sierra, especially Yosemite. The latest series, "Approaches", attempts to achieve an equal balance between negative and positive spaces created by the ramps and their supports on the Crockett side of the Carquinez Bridge. | |