Thanks for visiting my site. Today is December 2, 2020 of the plague year. I’m starting to work on a new painting of mountains and stream, based on a photo my son, Bill, took during one of his hikes in the Cascades mountain range in Washington State. It will probably involve a limited palette of grays, blues and some grayed-down greens. (Note on 12/20/20: See Mountain Fog painting in the portfolio section). I just bought some new materials to play with after seeing some online watercolor videos, including some black ink, a nib pen, some liquid watercolor and some granulating medium and think I will try to use some of these in the new work. Wish me luck! Every painting is a new adventure!
A bit about myself…My formal education was as a biochemist, although I enjoyed sketching from an early age. It was only during my years as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago in the early 1980s that I had the time and adequate expendable income to begin taking lessons in watercolor painting from James Wisnowski, an American Academy of Art graduate, who at that time had a studio in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago. I supplemented my art training with workshop opportunities as they arose, including a week’s workshop at Dillman’s with Catherine Wilson Smith, and was even lucky enough to attend a one-day event with the late great Irving Shapiro. For several years I also attended classes with Peter Jablokow at the North Shore Art League in Winnetka, IL. I currently serve as Vice President of the Lakes Region Watercolor Guild and am also a member of the Illinois Watercolor Society. As is probably obvious from the portfolio page of this website, my artwork reflects inspiration derived from my love of Chicago, where I grew up, as well as from urban and natural settings I have encountered locally or during my travels. I work primarily from photos I have taken myself but will occasionally make use of public domain photos or photos taken by my family, if they stir my creative imagination. Images that appeal to me usually have a striking geometry or color display, but many times I am simply guided by the whimsy of the subject matter.
I’ve shown my work at the Art Center in Highland Park, the North Shore Art League in Winnetka, IL, the Lake County (IL) Art League, the Illinois Watercolor Society, the Volo Bog Visitor Center near Volo, IL, the Highland Park (IL) City Hall, the Highland Park Senior Center, the Antioch (IL) Art Center, the occasional art fair, and the 2601 Gallery at my high school alma mater, Lane Tech College Prep in Chicago.
Bill