His work has been heavily influenced by his cousin, artist Peter Nye, a prominent contemporary painter living in San Francisco. More than just mere straight forward paintings of snapshots, his art is a study of how objects and buildings, along with light and space help us gain a better visual understanding of the world we inhabit.  

Mr. Goldstein stumbled across a wealth of subject matter to paint in his mother-in-law's attic during a family holiday.. hundreds of old color Kodak slides snapped in the late 50's, 60's, and 70's by his mother-in-law.  "I found hundreds of them stacked in taped boxes, and immediately realized that they'd be something I would enjoy painting, but I felt confident they would also have a universal appeal."

"Using the camera as a sketchbook, I like to paint pictures of people from old Kodak photographs in their natural surroundings, doing the thing that made them comfortable and happy at that moment in time;  Whether it was sitting on a large stuffed chair in their living room, mingling at a cocktail party, or a family sitting on a sun porch in a resort in the Catskill Mountains.  To me, it's fascinating to paint a canvas knowing that the subjects in the photo would never have dreamed a picture taken of them doing routine activities would end up years later as a piece of artwork hanging in a private home.  I like to think my paintings help suggest a story that exists outside the actual painting."

Mr. Goldstein employs a graphing technique to scale up 8"x10" color prints (of the original slides) and then  sketch them onto canvas.  "Graphing in pencil helps me achieve accurate proportions in my pieces, and then with oils I can find the balance between photo-realism and my style.  I still have many pieces to paint from the original discovery, and after those I plan on experimenting with still photos developed from old super 8 footage I've found."