BIO

Theos grew up in the American Midwest and studied painting and art history at Central College in Fayette, Missouri. His early training was shaped—and constrained—by Philip Malette, a French instructor steeped in the strict classicism of the École des Beaux-Arts, where expressionism was quietly discouraged. Restless under rigid doctrine, Theos responded with rebellion by way of relentless doodling, scribbling, and the invention of barely recognizable figures during lectures.

A parallel path opened through calligraphy, which he studied under renowned Seattle calligrapher Frank (Sanje) Elliott. Writing invitations and announcements for wealthy clients and institutions—primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area—paid the bills while quietly redefining his visual language. That discipline now pulses through Theos’s work, which straddles color field painting and action painting with calligraphic force.

Alongside art, Theos pursued a lifelong spiritual journey through meditation, massage therapy, movement, and dance. These embodied practices deeply inform both the rhythm and presence of his work today.

After years and several careers in design and the healing arts, Theos returned—fully—to the creative practice of his youth. Encouraged by abstract expressionist painter Abbie Rabinowitz, he embraced this return as essential rather than optional. Over the past decade, art has become central to his life. He describes it as “the indescribable comfort and satisfaction of finally doing my own work in this lifetime—a reward well worth waiting for.”

Theos lives and works between Hawaii, France, and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
His work, under the name THEOS, is held in private and institutional collections in San Francisco, Honolulu, Santa Fe, Taos, New York City, Palm Beach, Paris, and Munich.

ARTIST STATEMENT

THEOS is a painter working at the intersection of gesture, stillness, and breath—where calligraphic force meets color-field resonance. Trained in classical painting and art history in the American Midwest, he resisted rigid tradition early on, choosing intuition and embodied mark-making over doctrine.

Calligraphy, once a livelihood, remains a vital influence, shaping a visual language rooted in rhythm, movement, and touch. Years devoted to meditation, movement, and the healing arts further inform the work, infusing each painting with presence rather than performance.

After a long arc through parallel creative and spiritual paths, THEOS returned fully to painting. Over the past decade, this practice has become central to his life—an arrival both deliberate and inevitable.

THEOS lives and works between Hawaii, France, and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. His work is held in private and institutional collections internationally.