Born in Monroe, Washington in 1940

In his teens, muscular weakness and learning disabilities made sports and academics a challenge – he found drawing was what he was good at—and making people laugh!

He really was a smart and talented guy - Received a BA at the University of Washington, MFA at Yale, Fulbright Scholar in Europe

When he was a kid in Monroe, he studied with a neighborhood artist and was probably the only eight year old around drawing a nude model. This influenced him to continue his study of nudes at the University of Washington.

Began painting in 1960’s- influence from pop art.

One subject for 30 years – the human face› “I paint heads because heads matter to

everybody. If youpaint a face big enough, it’s hard to ignore.”

Began as a photo-realist artist but a spinal injury forceda necessary changein his style.

“I had to recover to paint. There is nothing else I can do. There is nothing else I want to do.”

“I build a painting by putting little marks together – some look like hotdogs, some look like doughnuts –the way a writer makes a novel by slamming words together.”