I was born in Spicer, a small Minnesota town located on beautiful Green Lake. Spicer, and the surrounding county, was populated mostly by Swedes and Norwegians, many who had been there since emigrating from Scandinavia.
My early years were filled with the sights, sounds, and rhythms of a largely Norwegian upbringing, since my family lived near my mother’s parents, who were Norwegian, but also with the beauty of rural Minnesota. After graduating from the University of Minnesota and moving to California, I quit a throw-away job in 1963 and went to Europe with a friend. We traveled for about six months, spending our days touring art galleries, museums, and glorious cathedrals that adorn Europe’s cities.
Returning, I entered the University of Utah, where I earned an M.A. and a Ph.D. in English and Linguistics. I accepted a job at California State University, Pomona, or Cal Poly, where I taught in the English and Foreign Languages Department. It was at Cal Poly that I met and married Michaela, a brilliant student and sensitive writer, and it was she who, shortly after my retirement, suggested I try taking a class in oil painting, even giving me a birthday gift of my first set of oils and brushes.
Under the guidance of Nancy Kasten, a gifted portrait and landscape painter, I soon developed a deep love of painting. I had always admired the masters, especially the impressionists, but it was only when I had put my own hand to the canvas that I realized how personal and satisfying a form of self expression painting could be. I continue to paint and have completed a series of Scandinavian scenes based on a trip my wife and I took to Sweden and Norway. The paintings are based on photos I took or photos a friend, gifted photographer and archivist, Sven Danielsson, graciously allowed me to use.
I continue to study under Nancy Kasten and have participated in workshops with Walter Holland, John Cosby, Milford Zornes, and Joseph Todorovitch. I have participated and won awards in numerous shows, including those sponsored by the Associated Artists of the Inland Empire, the Pomona Progress Gallery, the SoHo Gallery, and the Ontario Museum of History and Art, as well as the Claremont Forum Gallery. I believe that my painting life has just begun; there is much to learn and never-ending beauty to discover through painting and knowing other painters and artists.
Special gratitude and thanks to Sven for his beautiful photographs, the inspiration of many of my paintings.
