After 36 years as an engineer and over 30 patents later I am finally an artist. My favorite New Yorker cartoon is an engineer holding a glass of wine at a gallery opening and an artist is asking him, “So what inspired you to study engineering, get married, find a job, move to the suburbs, have a couple of kids, and grow old.”

Engineering was a “safe” career choice. People always say something like, “Both left and right brain…” but engineering has room for a lot of creativity that goes beyond stereotypes (patents for example). I’ve always loved art and worked it in when I could during my engineering career but it was just a hobby and not enough to satisfy my inner artist. I had great art classes in high school but did you know colleges limit art classes mainly to art majors only? As a result, I am largely a self taught artist.

People are the most interesting thing to paint. Their expressions are somewhat mysterious, subject to our own personal bias and experience. Most famously, what is the Mona Lisa thinking? When I paint a portrait I don’t so much strive for an exact likeness, that’s best left for photography. I try to capture an emotion, to express a feeling… something that allows the viewer to relate to the subject. I like to ask people what they think the subject is feeling/thinking. What expressions/emotions do you see in this portrait? Does my title influence your thoughts? The answer is often a little different than my intention. Where I saw determination, they sometimes see anger. Where I saw jealousy, they see suspicion. A stoic expression can be the most mysterious of all, a seriousness that is hard to see through and subject to the most interpretation. I like these conversations because it is some insight into each other’s experiences and how we see the world. If I can get people to have these discussions, I think the work was a success.

Starting with a photograph I work with an image on the computer, experimenting with color, composition, and shape. The computer image becomes a sketch for the final art work. Taking the idea from the computer screen to canvas allows me to explore and develop the idea further. My nostalgia for pop art that has a strong influence on my work but after two years of being an artist I’m still developing my style. True to my Midwest upbringing, I enjoy the "work" of making art, everything from building the stretcher frames and stretching and priming the canvas to developing my sketch into a final painting.