I truly feel blessed to be able to express myself through my art and love what I do. I hope to bring an enjoyment to people who view my art and have the ability to bring memories of the outdoors into their view. Whether it is a cherished old friend and hunting dog, or a fishing experience, or the great outdoors, or just a pleasant landscape with a touch of the call of the wild.
When I am not painting, I try to capture views and shots of the outdoors, nature, wild life and even historic houses, and landscapes with my slr digital camera. I try to train my vision to see subtle things and be prepared to capture them with my camera. As an artist I don’t always limit myself to what the camera sees, but also add figures or wildlife into a scene and modify the view to how I see it. I feel this is what being an artist is all about. To express a mood or vision and make it work the way I see it.
I can’t remember when I first became interested in art. I did drawings and paintings ever since I was a child. And I always had support from my parents. Some years ago my father gave me all this art I did from my toddler years, all the way through grade school. What I found particularly meaningful was that they saved all of it.
I grew up in Detroit, Michigan and when I graduated from high school in the late 60’s I thought I wanted to be a commercial artist. After a semester in a com-art program I became interested in the painting and fine art classes I needed to take. I had moved to the Chicago area and in 1975 graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in art education and spent 2 years trying to find a teaching job in high school art. Even at that time art was beginning to be cut from schools, so I went into commercial art again and became an illustrator/designer. I have worked in advertising successfully for years, but always felt that painting and fine art was where I really belong.
I still live in the Chicago area but built a house in Harrisville, a small harbor town in Northeastern Michigan on Lake Huron and love it. My wife and I (she is also an artist) have a studio in both houses. Michigan to me was always home.
I work in oils on canvas. I like to paint in thin washes and build the colors of lights and shadows in gradual layers building up the paint. I also work in subtle texture in the gesso preping of the canvas.
- 1977-2009 Designer/Illustrator in advertising, business owner of Behmer Design Inc.
- 2008 joined ESAG (East Shore Art Guild)
- 2008 exhibited in the Harmony Art Fair in Harrisville
- 2009 joined NEMAG (North Eastern Michigan Art Guild)
- 2009 exhibited in the ESAG Gallery
- 2009 exhibited in the Harmony Art Fair in Harrisville
- 2009 Honorable mention award winner at the Besser Museum Northeast Michigan Artists 2009 Juried Exhibition
- 2010-2011 exhibiting in Mullaly's 128 Studio & Gallery in Elk Rapids, Michigan