Artist's Statement:

For all of my life I've lived in Catonsville, a small town outside of Baltimore Maryland. My inclination towards art emerged when I was around four years old. My subject matter at that time was dinosaurs and the ancient landscapes they inhabited. Today my landscape paintings generally fall into two categories: forest and shore. Near my home I’m lucky enough to have access to the Patapsco Valley State Park, a lovely slice of wilderness that protects thousands of acres of very old second growth forest. As a young boy I spent many a carefree day with my friends as we wandered over the hills and explored the stream valleys of this excellent example of upland Piedmont eastern deciduous forest. Within the boundaries of this reserve, I find an endless variety of subject matter for my acrylic and watercolor paintings.

In the summer my mother and father took my sister and I on our yearly vacation to Ocean City, a funky little beach town on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. During the day we spent hours in the ocean riding the waves on our surf mats. At night, with our third degree sunburns we would prowl the boardwalk, people watching and eating junk food as the music of the Beach Boys, The Mama’s and the Papa’s and Jimi Hendrix blasted from the penny arcades. In my late teens I worked a summer in Ocean City as a beach boy renting surf mats and umbrellas. In the early morning before I would set up my beach stand I’d belly board the waves in the diamond sparkles of the glassy ocean. This is when my painting love affair with the Mid-Atlantic beaches began.

George's family has a home on the coast of Maine where he spends time each summer painting the shoreline, coastal islands and the natural world around him. Here, dark forests of spruce come down to meet the rocky coast. Along the shore, granite boulders, glacier carved and ancient, rise out of the cold Atlantic in the form of thousands of islands spotted with wind ravaged spruce forest. He learned that it was a drowned coastline. The islands were the last vestiges of a mountain range worn down by the elements and time. Coastal Maine to George is an altogether different planet, one that constantly fascinates and provides continuous inspiration from which to paint. He has avoided the clichés that we have come to associate with Maine. Instead it is the weathered spruce, granite boulders in the morning sun and the awe inspiring star filled skies of the Maine night that will remain the catalyst for George's art and creativity.

For my painting medium I prefer acrylic paints, which have a fast drying time. With acrylics I employ a technique much like egg tempera which consists of drybrush, scumbling and transparent glazing. This rewards me with the ability to create the illusion of light and air, two of the most important elements in the art of landscape painting.