Born in 1963 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, he moved to New York in 1990, establishing a studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He studied painting at the Tyler School of Art, where he worked with Stephen Greene, Susan Chrysler White, Stanley Whitney and Dona Nelson. He received a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Painting from the University of Michigan in 1988 and that same year attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture where he studied with Guy Goodwin, David Reed, Altoon Sultan and Ursula Von Rydingsvard. Over the years, he has shown his work in many group and solo shows and has taught at many colleges and universities including: Mount Holyoke College, Brandeis University, Pratt Institute and The New School.