Contempoary abstract paintings

1. Edward Hopper: One my first influences; made me see the city as a subject
2. George Bellows: Taught me how to see an urban landscape
3. WIllem de Kooning: Opened up my mind to the absract expressionism
4. Franz Kline: His stark black and white paintings taught me about gesture
5. Mark Rothko: Mystical color fields described the transcendential nature of art
6. Miles Davis: A creative genius whose music I see as a metaphor for painting

1. Art & Physics by Leonard Shlain
2. Reading Abstract Expressionism: Context and Critique. editied by Ellen G. Landua
3. Edward Hopper by Gail Levin
4. De Kooning, an American Master by Mark Stevens and A. Swan
5. Focault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
6. Mission to Paris by Alan Furst
7. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
8. The Coast of Chicago by Stuart Dybeck
9. Stockholm Noir, short story collection edited by Nathan Larson and C.M. Edenborg
10. Moby Dick by Herman Mellville
11. Miles Davis's autobiography by Miles Davis

I have always been a lover of jazz, particularly the be-bop form that emerged in the late 1940's and into the 50's and 60's. Many of my paintings are visual interpretations of jazz pieces where I try to capture the dynamic tension between structure and chaos. 

My biggest jazz influences include Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Thelonius Monk.

While I am currently living and working Sweden, I still call Cleveland, Ohio my home. I am fortunate to be represented by Cleveland's premier gallery, The Bonfoey Company, which has been showcasing the area's top artists for 130 years. 

https://www.bonfoey.com/

I would say my first professional studio was in the 78th Street Studios building in Cleveland, Ohio that I moved into in 2010. It was  an old car factory that has been converted into artist studio spaces by local entrepreneur and visionary, Dan Bush.  

The collaboration energy in that building was second to none, and still to this day I have never found an environment such as that anywhere. I will always cherish the time I spent in that building the people I got to know.

https://78thstreetstudios.com/