ABOUT MY ART STUDIO "SONTERRA"

SONTERRA has proven to be a dream studio. I love the remote country location deep in the heart of East Texas in the middle of the giant pines, near the town of Montalba.

It is positioned on the top of the hill in the middle of 100 acres which isolates it for privacy. There are plenty of outdoor spaces to enjoy the natural settings, including an outdoor stone room with a fire place.

But most of all it is a wonderful place to do my work. It's a unique privilege to indulge in the creative process surrounded by the sights, sounds, smells and ethereal beauty that is SONTERRA.

Several years ago, I visited Monet's studio in Giverny, France and had a clear understanding of what was needed for a great painting studio – big open space and northern natural light. Returning to Texas, I started designing and then building SONTERRA. It is a great natural light studio for working during the day and has great lighting for working at night. The 25 foot ceiling creates the New York loft feeling I never had in New York.

My painting wall is 40 feet long and 25 feet high. It feels very open and allows me to focus on very large as well as small paintings. The room is 55 feet deep which allows me good distance to view a painting in progress. The painting wall also serves a a large gallery wall to display finished art for client viewing. (appointment only basis).

SONTERRA is also very high tech, with Mac computers, video projection, and several sources to play and enjoy music. All in all, even though it is always a work in progress, it is finished enough now to provide outstanding studio space and comfortable living quarters. We love sharing the remarkable beauty of the various seasons at SONTERRA throughout the year with family and friends.

LATEST ADDITIONS TO SONTERRA COMPLETED IN NOVEMBER 2009

In November 2009, the latest additions to my studio complex were completed. It was then, that I officially named the studio and surrounding acreage, "SONTERRA".

The two things that guests and clients visiting the studio over the years have all enjoyed, is sitting by the fire at night and sitting under the open sky in the pine trees. For those reasons, I created a new outdoor space that has a large fireplace but no roof. This new outdoor space is accented by sculpture and artifacts from Indonesia.

In the landscape as you approach the outdoor "room" is an engraved stone with "COLUMBIA" on it to memorialize the tragic explosion of the space shuttle. We found several burned pieces of the space shuttle on the property that were claimed by the investigators from NASA. The spanish-styled 3-tiered water fountain nearby adds the tranquil sound of water to the general area around the studio compound.

At night, the area becomes not only a dramatic display of the art within the area, but a place of tranquil, quiet evenings where one can connect with the solitude of nature or re-connect with family and friends around a crackling fire in the immense stone fireplace.