About
I first developed the sketchbook habit as a student of landscape architecture at Rhode Island School of Design in the late 1970s. Subsequently, as a practicing landscape architect, I used drawing as an essential design tool, to visualize a design and to communicate with clients. After joining the faculty of landscape architecture at UC Davis, I taught drawing and drafting, along with design studios and courses in landscape history. It was the kind of drawing that has pretty clear rules; a means to an end, not the end in itself. But taking a sketchbook on hikes or when traveling, I would draw more subjective impressions, as a complement to the precision of photographs.
Now retired and living in San Francisco, I bend the rules when sketching, and aim for something looser, less precise, more intuitive. Drawing is still my foundation — every painting begins with sketches — and I enjoy working en plein air with pastels. Landscape is still my favorite subject and I have long been seduced by gorgeous traditions of landscape representation that glorify "Nature" — traditions which, in their time and place, have helped build the environmental movement, which I strongly support. But as climate change has become inescapable and terrifying, I can no longer ignore or edit out ubiquitous human impacts on the environment. I’m looking at landscapes differently now and finding new subjects to paint: parking lots, power poles, dumpsters and chainlink fencing. Most importantly, I’m focusing on color and light, paint and brushstrokes. For me a painting is always an exploration, a work in progress and a learning curve.
Recent art exhibits:
Sept. 27-29, 2024 1890 Bryant St. Open Studios
April 12-14, 2024 1890 Bryant St. Open Studios
Feb. 2024 SF Marin Food Bank Auction (group show)
Nov - Dec. 2023 “Tiny Show” Studio Gallery, 1641 Pacific Ave, San Francisco (group show)
Oct.27-28, 2023 1890 Bryant St. Open Studios
Feb. 2023 Studio Gallery, 1641 Pacific Ave, San Francisco, (group show) SF Marin Food Bank Auction
Sept 2022 - Jan 2023 “From Sand Dunes to Forest: Canopy Trees of Golden Gate Park,” Helen Crocker Russell Library of Horticulture, S.F. Botanical Garden, Golden Gate Park (group show)
May - June 2022 “Delicious” Studio Gallery, 1641 Pacific Ave, San Francisco (group show)
Jan 2019 “Tree Portraits: Golden Gate Park,” Pastels by Heath Massey, Helen Crocker Russell Library of Horticulture, San Francisco Botanical Garden, Golden Gate Park (solo show)
Aug. 2018 “Growing Habitat” Descanso Gardens, La Cañada Flintridge (group show)
Oct 2017 “Loving Golden Gate Park,” SFWA Gallery, San Francisco (group show)
For a CV of my professional and academic career: CV LINK