I had training during my university years in Art History with Dr. Walter Hipple where I was exposed to and studied art from this scholar.
And I was always visiting museums when in Chicago, and then later in San Francisco - no matter where I was living. And local art shows should be included here - lots and lots of openings, gallery exhibitions, shows, and studio visits.
What influences my art are they following: Zen, Tantra and the martial art Aikido.
And, I have had a fine art business where I’ve sold millions of dollars of paintings done by many of America’s great artists (Andrew Wyeth, Charles Russell, Frederic Remington, Joseph Sharp, Russel Chatham, Gottardo Piazzoni, Thomas Moran, Robert Bateman, William Wheeler and many others)- I realize many of these will not be familiar to you but they are the creme de creme).
So I’ve been exposed to most major schools of American Art, but Expressionism seems to be the best hat for me to wear. Essentially, what appears in my art, of what I try to find, make happen, and paint, is finding the simplicity of what I am painting - how can I say the most with the least. And in doing that, take the viewer on a journey that is both mine, and their’s.