I’ve long been interested in drawing the figure. All of its complex contours are an endless source of story telling. What solidified this interest into a formal study was my work as an undergraduate at Philadelphia College of Art (now Univerisity of the Arts)  as an Illustration major. It was at Philidephia that I  honed my skills as a visual communicator. Upon my graduation in the mid 1980’s, I found that the jobs for Illustrators were few and far between. At this early stage of my artistic career, I was confronted with the need to reinterpret my skills to find work. I packed up my belongings and headed back home to New York in the hope of finding more opportunity.



It didn’t take long for me to find an entry position as a designer at a magazine. I was immersed in the world of graphic design in a corporate setting. This was a far cry from the painting studios in Center City, Philadelphia. Artistically it was a little different than Illustration, but not so different that I wasn’t able to quickly teach myself the more graphic form of visual communication. It was early 1987 at this time and there was a revolution on the horizon, but not the kind that would overthrow a government. The birth of the digital revolution had started, and there was a new tool to learn how to use: the desktop computer.

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Most graphic designers during this time were eager to learn computer-aided graphics, and I was certainly one of them. The very first versions of programs like QuarkXpress and Photoshop were beginning to be introduced and I was more than happy to start learning them. It took a few years for them to make their way into a corporate setting, but when they did I was ready. I saw this as an opportunity to advance my career. In my mind, though, I still had that desire to be in the studio and paint. I still felt that I hadn’t come close to reaching my potential in my fine art life.