"I am here on this earth to create. Not only create, but express the beauty I see around me. I feel responsible to render it. I cannot help it. I see the beauty. I am compelled to show it, to interpret what I see and how I see it; to express the warm light from a lamp that enthralls me, the coziness and clutter of a room with all that one person has accumulated over the years, the glint on the edge of a cup, the distortion that only age can render on a rooftop that is now that way because of centuries of wear and tear. What does it matter? It matters not to many… But somehow it matters to me.This is what obsesses me, what I dwell on, what excites me, what I lay awake thinking of, it’s what I find beautiful. Not the fact that something is perfect, straight; but that it endures with personality and uniqueness. Nature is much more expressive, random, unique, than anything man can construct. The lines of a horse running her heart out, the repeating and exquisite glint of the sun setting on the water, the colors of a room warmed by the glow of a lamp or a fire, how sunlight touches and enhances, the eyes of a cheetah, so steady and concentrated. And the individuality: the difference age has made, how it has created the crookedness of a European rooftop sagging with age. It interests me not the perfection man has made, but the imperfections time and age have wrought on the human touch. I am obsessed. As far as education is concerned, I believe if you want to be the best you must study from the best. And I have been extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity of studying from some of the very best artists in the U.S. today.As a young student, I was very hungry for good art instruction. It was important to me that I strive to be the best I could possibly be. So I sought out all artists that truly inspired me. As Constantine Chatov once said to me, “It is not where you study, but who you study from; that is the most important thing”. Whomever you chose to take lessons from should really excite and impassion you.I also fervently believe in the concept of “paying forward”. Because of my good fortune and opportunities as an art student, I now feel obligated to give back in return. I want to pass the excellent concepts and knowledge of what I have learned to others. I cannot teach without generously giving the best I can offer."