Biography

I came relatively late to art, joining the art class at the age of 16. This was a necessary move because I had run out of the legal limit of classes and needed this as a ‘filler course.’ By my final year aged 18, I had an ‘A ‘ pass in art. My art teacher, Mr Hemingway, had been merciless with me and went so far as to throw heavy drawing boards at me when he thought I wasn't’t paying attention. His eccentricity had him lower erasers into jars of water so that they became useless in drawing class...his way of inspiring confidence in us making us retain the original pencil or charcoal image without change.

In the end Hemingway drew me to one side and explained that all the pressure applied was to help bring out the artist in me because he saw some raw talent there. I have not resented these years although there was plenty of reason to. Ultimately this got me into Grays School of Art in Aberdeen, Scotland.

I spent five years at the art school and graduated in 1973 with a BA in fine art (drawing and painting). The first few years were a general introduction to design, etching, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, weaving and history of art. Anatomy and the study of natural form amazed me. How complex and beautiful man and his world were at this aesthetic level. Analyzing color I found a rock which revealed over 55 different shades all of which lay in perfect harmony....the world in a grain of sand!

After college I exhibited in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Inverness, then in London the color field work of Rothko at the Tate Gallery and Robyn Denny struck me and became a lasting influence. I had been focusing on surrealism, Persian and Indian miniatures and ideas from Carl Jung concerning myth, archetype and synchronicity but here was an entirely different world, or so I thought at the time. It lay without clutter and presented highly emotive and thoughtfull images which were totally new to me.

By 1981 I found myself in America. I took some time out to gain a masters in religion in upstate New York. I worked at building a food program in Florida but I was soon in California where I began to paint seriously again. Exhibitions were held in Santa Monica, Palm Springs and Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino Mountains. 

In '92 a Japanese company contracted four artists, myself included, to paint the aurora in Alaska. This was fruitful and challenging in a technical way. It pushed me to fully master my craft. We exhibited in Tokyo and New York along with multi screen backdrops, new age music and geisha girls who hosted our patrons. After the contract, I spent a lengthy time in the California mountains with time to think, write and paint. It struck me one day that I had graduated in technical skills. I had learned, as it were, the vocabulary of realism. Now I was free and it left me to contemplate other questions about color field and consciousness. I had been impressed in the past by the simple monumentality of standing stones, earthworks and the works of Duchamp, Schwitters, Cornell, Rosenquist’s late works, Isamu Noguchi and others. Some of this looked simple on the surface but layered, I believe, with particular meaning, symbol and myth. Surrealism began to take a back seat.

A move to Arizona led to time spent teaching art and developing a book on the Renaissance. A large warehouse space became an excellent studio. Painting gained more color, perhaps influenced by the desert light of Arizona. The landscape here, in any case, became a profound influence. Realism gave way to three dimensions and texture. Exhibitions followed in Phoenix and Scottsdale at the exclusive El Pedregal center.

Denmark in 2006 saw the family together near Copenhagen. Teaching took up some time but by 2008 a good relationship with a gallery in Hellerup brought a year of success before economics slowed us all down. An underlying philosophy of art began to develop from this. Experiments in abstract and three dimensional work were carried out. Part of the banking problem was a lack of ethics in economic sectors. Watching the kids at school, the effects of culture, good, bad and ugly, broken families and personal dysfunction took its toll. A couple of the staff brought up the issue of contemporary traditions. Some of it was counter productive and led to difficulty.

Plato talked about the arts as a dangerous subversive element and Aristotle saw it as redemptive. Both views are probably right at one time or another. The question remains. What is art and what is it's function? It has a unique power and a place in our society.

Brokenness does not create a great foundation for life or creativity. Maslow the psychologist thought our foundation had to be whole before our authentic creativity emerged. He called this a 'peak experience.' Others think the same. Culture is being re-made after the dismantling of Renaissance traditions. What do we put in its place? It is a time for thought.

Exhibitions

Jan 1990; Art du Mond, Tokyo, Japan.

March 1990; Art du Mond, Nagoya,Japan.

May 1990; Art du Mond, Tokyo, Japan.

June 1990; Art du Mond, Tokyo, Japan.

Sept. 1990; Metropolis, Los Angeles, USA.

Nov. 1990; Japan Expo, Los Angeles,USA.

Nov. 1990; Cabrillo Plaza, San Pedro, USA.

Feb. 1991; Rim Rock, Palm Springs, USA.

March 1991 Ocean Images, Santa Monica, USA

April 1991 San Pedro Art Association, San Pedro,USA.

June 1991; Ports o' Call, San Pedro, USA.

June1991; Art du Mond, Tokyo, Japan.

Jan. 1992; Tokyo Expo, Tokyo, Japan.

May 1992; Logicon Atrium, San Pedro, USA.

Aug 1992; Global Arts, Tokyo, Japan.

Jan. 1993; Tokyo Expo, Tokyo,Japan.

March 1993; Logicon2, Logicon Atrium, San Pedro, USA.

Oct 1994; Arrowhead Gallery, Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA.

April 1994; Gallery Auck, Temecula, CA, USA.

Jan 1995; Coyle and Coyle, Agua Fria, CA, USA.

1996-2002; Sabbatical (experiments with abstraction, writing and web development), Instructor at Arizona Art School.

2003; Art Matters. Phoenix AZ.

2004; Art Rewards (online gallery) Phoenix AZ.

2004; Rosensteel Galleries, Scottsdale AZ.

May 2005; LepreCon. Carefree, AZ.

April 2006; Rowan Tree Gallery. El Pedregal, Scottsdale, AZ.

April 2008-'09; Hellerup Kunsthandel, Hellerup, DK.

October 2009 Nielsen's / Taastrup, DK.

1992- "The Cosmic Garden" Cibachrome with diamond inserts.

1992- "The Illusion" Cibachrome with diamond inserts. 1993- "Northern Lights" Calendar (proceeds to e.e.c. Ecological foundation) Published by Masa International of Tokyo.

2004- 5 giclee prints in association with Art-Rewards, Gilbert AZ.

First Place: April 1991 San Pedro Art Association.

Honorable Mention: June 1991; Ports o' Call,

First Place: May 2005; LepreCon.

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