About the Artist

A Little Background

Nearly thirty years ago, my adulthood studies in painting and drawing began at the Koho-School of Sumi-E, with Japanese brush painting.  Art training then continued uninterrupted at Parsons The New School for Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology; including a life changing intensive drawing and painting program in Paris and the Dordogne, sponsored by Parsons.  In 1997, I was clearly on a new career path when I enrolled at the National Academy Museum and School, and began work with the painter, Sam Adoquei. I also studied at Mr. Adoquei’s Union Square Atelier. 

My work appeared regularly in the Annual Juried Exhibitions at the National Academy; and in 2006, I was awarded the first Prize in Painting, and in 2007, the Reva Paul Prize in Still Life Painting.  In 2008, I set up my own studios in New York City and the lovely Hudson Valley town of Pine Plains.  Since then, my work has been exhibited in a number of venues.  My still-life paintings and commissioned portraits have found wonderful homes in several private collections.

Painting Lance in his salon, in the early morning

For over thirty years, up until January of 2011, I also worked as a university professor, researcher, and writer.  I hold a Master’s Degree in Theology from Yale University Divinity School and a Ph.D. in Psychology from The University of Chicago. I taught psychology, social science, and liberal studies at The University of Chicago and then at The Graduate School of The City University of New York, where I am now Professor Emerita.

Joining a Community

A painter joins a community of artists, past and present. In this photo, GAP., an internationally recognized artist and friend working and living in Paris, and I (on the right) are standing in front of one of her large paintings: Empreintes claustra & Claus/ Le Balcon de Manet, Grand-Palais-Paris-Bruxelles, 1998/99.

See my blog entry on 02/05/2011 for the story of how this photograph puts me in the company of at least 6 other artists: GAP.; Manet who did the famous painting, The Balcony, that inspired the one we stand in front of; Goya who inspired Manet through his Majas at the Balcony; Fanny Claus the woman in the painting, i.e., the model for Manet's and GAP.'s paintings; and also the friend of Manet's wife, Suzanne Leenhoff, a pianist, and the wife of the impressionist painter Pierre Prins. Just one more connection: Fanny and Pierre are GAP's great grandparents.

About My Current Work

I am a full-time painter. In the spring of 2013, the final Ph.D. student whose research I supervised finished her dissertation. Although there may be an occasional psychology gig, painting is what fills and structures my time. Now, I apply as a painter what I learned from the study and teaching of psychology, religion, and other scholarly fields; research and writing; and really close collaborative work with students and colleagues.

I thrive in painting still-life arrangements, interiors, but most of all, people. Using oil paint and pencils, I tell stories about the beauty, simplicity, and complexity of what I see in the world. I want each of my paintings gently to stop you in your tracks. I want you to pause and through my work engage with another person’s image, a silver bowl, a tree, or some other piece of the world. I intend to provoke both your curiosity and your concern. Although I want you to find what you are looking at beautiful, I also want you to ask and care about what just happened and what might come next for the person, place, or object in front of you.

please click here for a short video of me talking about a portrait project

Celebrating Frank's Portrait, 2012