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Above: "N. Water St.", 24 x 18" oil on linen (1985).
This painting represents a challenge in perspective
and is significant for its reproduction of light and shadows.with so many talented people - dancers, singers, writers and actors, as well as painters - it is a mecca of creative energy. I gain a great deal by bouncing ideas
off them."
Unlike many artists, Steve felt no early yearning to become an artist. Assuming everyone could draw as well as he did, he saw nothing special in his gift and con-sidered art a hobby.After graduating from high school, Steve felt totally lost. With no clear goal, he tried meteorology at Lowell University; then worked in a factory for a year before entering Bridgewater State College with the notion of studying music.
Still unsure of his future, one afternoonSteve took his portfolio to Steve Smalley, chairman of Bridgewater's art department.
"That afternoon I became an art major," Steve laughs. "I came home with a big smile on my face and told my mother that I had finally found my goal."
The suicide of a close friend, who had recognized Steve's talent and encouraged him to pursue it, deeply affected Steve and influ-
enced his career.
"After he died I felt I was painting in his memory, and I still think of him when t sit
down at the easel. He gave me the courage to believe in my future in art."
Shortly thereafter, Steve
began sketching at the Menemsha docks, where a man, noting the quality of his work, offered him $75 to do a pen-and-ink drawing
of his yacht. This chance commission reaffirmed to
CAPE COD LIFE 95
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