I have always loved portraiture, and the interaction of painting something with life. My paintings begin with an enthusiastic "Zing!" of an idea inspired by a curious gaze, a beautiful color, or a moment that
for some reason gave me pause.
Painting has always been an important part of my life, although the journey to get here full-time was unusual.
As part of my (intended art history) undergraduate degree, I traveled to Germany in 1989 to study as an extern at a gallery in Köln. However, a trip to East Berlin at the height of East Germany's uprising that October changed my trajectory. Instead, I received a BA in International Relations focusing on the opposition movements of the Eastern Bloc, and the manner in which opposition leaders used the arts to secretly
communicate.
My career led me to Washington, DC over two decades ago. I was a business policy advisor for the U.S. Department of Commerce, and a trade negotiator with the White House. These positions gave me the
opportunity to travel the globe and to negotiate difficult policy challenges with government officials from diverse backgrounds. Later, I joined the private sector as the Vice President for International Trade for a prominent trade association. I worked with leaders of Fortune 100 companies to small cutting-edge innovation companies on issues like tariffs and supply chains, and negotiated the largest ever trade agreement at the World Trade Organization. My dealings with people and cultures from all over the globe constantly gave inspiration and subject matter for paintings that I would work on in spare time. Many of those paintings now hang in the collections of diplomats and business leaders with whom I used to work.
In the fall of 2021, I retired from international relations to focus full time on being an artist.
