-WHAT'S THE LAST PAINTING THAT REALLY MOVED YOU?

A painting titled “Galisteo Creek” by Susan Rothenberg which hangs in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. I can stand in front of it and ponder it forever.

-WHAT MAKES A GOOD RELIGIOUS PAINTING? WHICH RELIGIOUS PAINTERS DO YOU REALLY ADMIRE?

Something that evokes spiritual feelings that transcend the specific image or subject matter of the work. Something that engages the viewer and encourages or inspires spiritual thoughts and feelings.

Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Tintoretto, William Blake.

-WHO IS A PAINTER THAT HAS A KNACK YOU REALLY ADMIRE? WHAT IS THAT TRAIT?

Edgar Degas. He lived 100 to 150 years ago, yet his compositions are very modern. His work is representational, however, if you ignore the subject matter his paintings are beautifully abstract.

-WHICH PERSON THAT YOU KNOW HAD THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON YOUR ART HABITS/LOVE OF PAINTING AND ART?

That has to go back to my parents because that love began so early, it is deep in my subconscious.

-WHO IS AN ARTIST PEOPLE MIGHT NOT THINK YOU LOVE, BUT YOU LOVE? WHO IS AN ARTIST PEOPLE THINK YOU WOULD LOVE THAT YOU DON'T LOVE?

Willem De Kooning. Because he realized that paint was more than a tool or medium to depict or represent something else. Paint is beautiful in itself.

William Bouguereau. A neoclassical artist that was very popular and successful in his day but was eclipsed by the impressionists. He has recently become very popular among contemporary figurative painters like myself, however I feel that although he was extraordinarily skilled his work lacks depth of feeling.