I love nature and so my paintings are drawn from nature - animals, flowers, natural landscapes. At present, I find myself immersed into creating dog and cat art and loving it! I find dog expressions and cat poses quite fascinating and that's what I seek to capture in my art.

Although my favorite medium is watercolor, I create paintings using other mediums - ink, pencil, conte crayons, pastels and oil pastels, sometimes combining mediums to create my own unique artistic style. I do this in order to always evolve and flourish in my artistic endeavors.

I love Chinese brush painting and Japanese sumi-e painting techniques. These techniques have quite an influence in my painting style, like my use of ink line drawings (with a bamboo stick as my drawing tool) and the sparse or non-existent background of my subjects.

In the tradition of asian painting techniques, I strive to finish paintings in as few strokes as possible and to know when to stop so as not to overwork it. This produces a fresh, spontaneous and serene quality in a painting that I so admire in Chinese and Japanese art. And in the tradition of John Singer Sargent's work in portraiture, I aim to capture not only the likeness of my subject but also it's "soul".

At last, my dream to become an artist has come true. My paintings are among private collections throughout the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia. I've also done several commissioned pet portraits. My work was featured in the December 2003 issue of Northlight Book Club Magazine. I've also done a book cover illustration for a children's chapter book by author Betty Sleep, entitled "Purrlock Holmes and the Case of the Vanishing Valuables".

Another wonderful thing has evolved through my art. I am a great supporter of animal rescue efforts. Through donations of my art, I've been able to help several animal charities. My works have been featured in charitable fundraising events throughout the US and have raised funds to help end animal suffering. This is the "icing on the cake" so to speak, making my life as an artist an even greater source of joy.

Website: artloftart.com

Mailing address: PO Box 892 Twin Peaks, CA 92391
Phone: 909-336-9289