“Art, when really understood, is the province of every human being. It is simply a question of doing things, anything, well”

Robert Henri
 

With each new work Ben allows inspiration to lead him to the new and the unexplored. Each work involves a process of discovery that reveals the essence of the subject, be it a portrait, a landscape, or a still life. Ben challenges himself to see the subject as honestly as possible by attempting to discard preconceptions and by breaking down what he sees into shapes, values, textures, and color, at the same time seeking to tell a story. Ben’s goal is to express beauty, intense feeling, and meaning.

Ben’s mediums are oils, pencil, and terracotta clay. His favorite genres are portraits and plein air landscapes. Ben’s training as an architect has given him and appreciation of the essential underlying structures of geometry, anatomy, and composition. He is deeply inspired by the old renaissance and impressionist masters, and more recently by the work of John Singer Sargent, Edgar Payne, Joaquin Sorolla, and Richard Schmid.

Ben is and architect and artist living in San Diego, California. He has a degree in architecture from Cal Poly, Pomona and has received art training from Watts Atelier in Encinitas, and Mary Buckman's Sculpture Studio in North Park.