ART
Artist Statement
It seems to me that it matters less whether you have a camera, brush, or piano in your hand than whether you feel the process, forces, and pleasures of making art. The commonalities among those venues are far, far greater than the differences.
Working in each medium has its joys and challenges. All of them invoke a need for pausing, looking at the world differently, inviting and observing the feelings and tone of experiences, and making decisions about how to interpret and capture those moments. Art slows you down, one of its best features and qualities.
My aim is immersion and investigation, not perfection. I follow the proverb, "Don't sacrifice the good to the best." For me, the "good" is quite wonderful because, in reality, it contains everything. The "best" is an illusion and one that sparks competitiveness instead of authenticity.
I wish for uncertainty to continue and, along the way, to offer glimpses of answers that prompt more discovery, more excavation, and more questions that resonate with my inner sensibilities. Art can do that.
Artist Bio
I'm a native Washingtonian architect, architecture professor, author, watercolorist, photographer, and amateur musician. I'm very fortunate to have inherited the genes that allow me to build productively on them in a variety of endeavors.
When I was 13 and very interested in biology and medicine, I went to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, to study anatomy by copying studies drawn in ink by Michelangelo and DaVinci. There were several revelations that descended in those three hours. Among them, I got hooked on the act of drawing itself. That led to summer studies at the Corcoran School of Art and, shortly after, a few hot D.C. summers working construction. Architecture quickly became my new focus, but never to the exclusion of art, or music for that matter. All of them have been my companions ever since.
Explorations
WATERCOLORS
I took up watercolor painting in 2009, partly to try something new in art after turning 60, but also to see if I could counter the relatively tight approach to drawing that can go with architecture. The struggle, or dialogue, between "tighter" and "looser" approaches is still very much a balancing act in my painting. My ultimate goal is to work comfortably in the flow of water and paint, to enjoy the unpredictable and unintentional, though with the momentum of an underlying intention.
DRAWINGS
Drawing has become a life-long pursuit, using charcoal, pen, pencil, brush, and anything else that works. I've taught drawing to architecture students in several courses over the years, most recently in On Drawing, a course I created and continue to teach. The relationship between observation, analysis, and design thinking informs both my drawing practice and architectural approach.
PHOTOGRAPHY
I've been a photographer longer than I've been an architect. In addition to capturing architectural settings, I focus on faces quite a bit, and on scenes that have, like good paintings, good compositional tensions, forces that pull, even demand your attention, and engage you with the image for a longer time. After reviewing recently taken images, I continue working on them using software to intensify what's already there, often drawing me into "painterly" enhancements through manipulating contrast, saturation, and changes in cropping.
EXHIBITIONS
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Solo Photography Show, Penn Camera: Images of India (2013)
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Art League of Alexandria 1st Prize Award, Student/Faculty Show (2014)
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Dumbarton/Georgetown Solo Show (2020)
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Potomac Valley Watercolorists Award (2016)
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Cross-MacKenzie Gallery Architects' Drawings (2016)
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Torpedo Factory Solo Watercolor Show (December 2018 - January 2019)
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Glen Echo Yellow Barn Watercolor Show (Gang of Five) (2022)
