"River Sculptures"

16x26 Acrylic

Almost all kids love animals and drawing. Some of us just never get over it. The drawings to the right are from when I was 18-months old. Nonetheless, my penchant for drawing notwithstanding, I was headed for a career in science when my lab drawings were noticed, and I ended up illustrating for my zoology, botany, paleontology, and comparative anatomy professors. I was a good larval scientist, but with my professors’ encouragement, I headed for New York City to become an artist.

Now, I use my degree in biology, untold hours observing wildlife across North America (and Africa), and more than 30 wilderness canoe expeditions from Labrador to Alaska (and Arkansas, Montana, and Texas/Mexico) in the studio (I’ve been an avid canoeist since age eight). Like most artists, I am always trying to create ineffable qualities in a painting with varying success. However, unlike many, with my scientific background and extensive field experience, I also work to incorporate elements of natural history. It can be obvious such as camouflage in “Turbulent Currents” or “Eyes in the Night” or subtle such as in “River Sculptures” above. The title alludes to the fact that the repeated rounded, sinuous forms of the rocks and Otters are both sculpted by the river through erosion and evolution respectively.