Born in 1937 in Megali Gotista, Ioannina, he was first taught in art by religious icon painter Giorgos Kasakos and Panos Sarafianos. He then studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts, initially in the sculpture workshop of Thanassis Apartis and later under Yannis Moralis, on a Greek state scholarship. He studied also stage design and decorative art. Graduating in 1967, between 1967-1973 he travelled around Europe visiting museums and studying the trends in contemporary art. He also studied ancient Greek, Byzantine and folk art.