I'm an alla prima kinda guy

In 2001, after 22 years as a magazine art director, I left my computer to go paint en plein air. My  experience in publishing  deeply informed my approach to picture-making. I was lucky to work with many talented photographers and illustrators over the years, and they were great teachers.

For a visual person, it's hard to beat nature for a workplace. I see compelling views in every direction, with constantly changing color and light. Despite the cold, wind, and bugs, I haven't once wanted to go back to a desk job.

While the heart and soul of my work will always be the great outdoors, I create some of my oil paintings in the studio, particularly larger pieces. My body of plein air work represents thousands of hours observing how sunlight interacts with nature and atmosphere, then documenting it in oil paint. Those plein air "field studies" (which I sell as finished pieces—most of the paintings you see on this site) provide invaluable reference for the big ones.

I am available for two types of commissions:

• Custom-sized originals based on any of my existing paintings, or

• Plein air explorations of your favorite property.

Please contact me or one of my gallery representatives for pricing and details.

For a glimpse at how I work, check out this video produced by Twin Cities Public Television (TPT). FYI, no, I don't wear a kilt when I paint, and here, in advance, is what I meant to say about painting from photographs vs. painting from nature:

“The first is like going to the library and reading a book about Paris, the second is like going there for two weeks with your girlfriend.” —Silvio Gagnon

For more, read this write-up in American Art Collector magazine.

Home base

When not outside, I can usually be found in my studio at my South Minneapolis home. I paint larger work there, prepare boards and canvases, frame, store my crap, and host occasional workshops and open studio events.

Honors

Glen Lake Optimists Award, Minnesota State Fair Juried Fine Arts Exhibition 2022

Best in Show and Festival Favorite, Evanston (Illinois) Plein Air Festival 2022

Into Nature, White Bear Lake Center for the Arts plein air event 2022; Award of Excellence

Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition Awards
2nd Place, Painting: 2019, 2015, 2002
4th Place and Ron Merchant Award for Oil Painting: 2014
Honorable Mention: 2013

Best of Show: Salon International 2010, Greenhouse Gallery, San Antonio

Best of Show: San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival, 2006

Best of Show: Jaques Art Center Plein Air, 2006, 2007

1st Place, Semi-finalist, and Honorable Mention: Plein Air Magazine July/August 2011 National Salon Competition (awarded prizes for three different paintings)

1st Place: Grand Marais Art Colony Plein Air, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2011

1st Place: Telluride Plein Air 2007

2nd Place and Purchase Award: Minnetonka Magic 2006, Wilcock Gallery, Excelsior, MN

3rd Place: Arrowhead Biennial, 2012

3rd place: Laguna Plein Air Members’ Show, 2008

Best New Artist: Easton Plein Air, 2009

People’s Choice: San Luis Obispo Plein Air, 2008

People's Choice: Red Stallion Gallery, Estes Park Plein Air 2006

Collector’s Choice: Red Stallion Gallery, Estes Park Plein Air, 2005

Honorable Mention: The American Landscape 2005, Maryland Federation of Art

Best Night Painting: Grand Marais Plein Air 2015

Artist Initiative Grant: Minnesota State Arts Board, 2012

Judge
• Northern Lights Exhibition, 2022
• Artists of Minnesota, 2022
• Between the Bluffs Plein Air 2017, La Crosse, WI
• Plein Air Hudson 2017 (WI)
• Red Wing Plein Air 2013
• Grand Marais Plein Air 2006

Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition Awards
2nd Place, Painting: 2015, 2002
4th Place and Ron Merchant Award for Oil Painting: 2014
Honorable Mention: 2013

Award for Excellence: Minnesota Artists Association, Fall Open Show 2002

Selected Exhibitions

Solo Show, White Bear Center For the Arts, White Bear Lake, Minnesota, 2022

Solo Show, Douglas Flanders and Associates Gallery, Edina, Minnesota, 2022

Group Exhibition, Farm to Palette, University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, 2019

Group Exhibition, The Snow Show, Douglas Flanders & Associates, December 2017

Plein Air Invitational, Groveland Gallery, August 2017

Capturing Nature’s Light: Three Plein Air Painters, Douglas Flanders & Associates, 2016

Solo exhibition:
Paradise, Paved: An Oil Painter's Exploration of the Suburbs
Flanders Gallery, 2014
Hopkins Center for the Arts, 2014
Phipps Center for the Arts, 2016
Minnetonka Center for the Arts, 2012

Featured Artist, McBride Gallery Autumn Celebration, Annapolis, Fall 2012

Painters of the Upper Mississippi (5 artists), Lake Pepin Art & Design Center, Fall 2012

Solo show Landscapes and Urbanscapes, First Universalist Church, Minneapolis, Fall 2011

Greenhouse Gallery Spring Festival, May 2011

Plein Air Show (3 artists) New Gallery, Dallas March, 2011

Salon International 2005, 2010, 2011, Greenhouse Gallery, San Antonio

Nature of Ice group exhibition, Minneapolis 2010

In Plain Site: Paintings of Minnesota (4 artists) Bloomington Art Center, 2010

Burnsville Art Fete 2009, 2010

Plein Air Artists, Kaiping Art Center (China), November 2009

Featured Artist, McBride Gallery, Annapolis, July 2009

Featured Artist, Kelley Galleries, April 2009

Solo exhibition: Art of Construction: Paintings of the I-35W Bridge Project, Thrivent Financial Gallery, 2008

A Russian Night in Taos, Taos Art Museum & Fechin House, August 2007, 2008

Paint the Parks Top 100, 2007

Solo show, Minneapolis Woman's Club, March-April 2007

Drawn To Nature, juried exhibition, Bell Museum, University of Minnesota, 2006

Central Regional Exhibition, Oil Painters of America, 2005

Metropolitan Council (Minneapolis/St. Paul) Community Arts Partnership exhibition program, 2005

Work selected for display at the Minnesota Governor’s Residence, 2004

Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibtion, 2002-2022