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"I respect [a student] with a good spirit and an open mind. Period."

After mastering your “craft” or the technical aspects of your art form, how did you find your own voice or unique, identifiable signature that set you apart from other artists?
I found "my own voice" as I was attempting to master my craft, and I feel I am still trying to master it from painting to painting. I was an abstract painter in art school, and evolved through expressionism to a simplified nostalgic realism to the painterly realism that I am doing now. 

How do you feel about being “classified” stylistically as a specific type of artist – or are you?
I actually have taken several different approaches to creating art: different media and different subjects. However, I feel fine about being classified stylistically as mainly a painterly photo-realist, and that is how I generally describe my work. Classification is a good way to orient one to another's basic style of work, and can add some clarity and understanding to where one is "coming from".


What artist, movement or historic time period had the greatest influence on your art?
My father was a painter, (as well as having a real job), so he influenced me quite a bit. A teacher named Larry Walker at the University of the Pacific introduced me to the work of more modern painters such as Larry Rivers and Wayne Thiebaud. This was a very exciting shift into being more aware of modern art approaches and was certainly good for my artistic growth. I think much of my work is a combination of realism and pop art and abstraction.
 

What are your greatest challenges as an artist?
Some of my greatest challenges as an artist have sort of come naturally. Keep painting. Don't paint to sell, paint for your soul. I tend to isolate, and as with many artists, I don't promote my own images very much, and don't like to deal with some of the people who do, although many gallery owners and agents can be lovely people. The necessity of isolation is a double edged sword for me.

What qualifies a person to be recognized as a great, master artist, weathering time and history?
I think what qualifies a person to be recognized as a great artist is a very complex issue. Generally, I respect a sense of fresh vision, mastery of craft, lack of triteness, consistency in quality, and honesty to one's self. I respect people who don't just drudge up the past, although we all have to tip our hats to artists who have come before, and rightfully so. (For students, none of this counts. For a student, I respect someone with a good spirit and an open mind, talented or not, period.) 
 

What must happen for the art of individuals to turn into a lasting movement or genre, impacting and influencing future generations of artists?
Happily, art that is able to move one's soul sometimes floats to the surface and has a lasting quality, influencing future generations of artists. If art helps people to feel and see their world in a new way, that is generally a positive trait. I think there is a lot of "emperor's clothing" in the modern art world, and I don't know if that will have a permanent effect or not.