Paintings

My paintings are about color and texture primarily. Although there is a clear idea in my head of the emotion, scene or situation I wish to convey through the piece, the map to get there is being drafted as I go. A color or shape or texture takes over for a period of time and I follow it. Then it may go away, or more accurately, give way to another path. A successful piece is one that arrives at the emotional destination I had envisioned at just the right speed and with just the right number of side trips and resting places. Some are direct. Others are circuitous.

Most of the human figures in my work reflect the impermanence of the individual, but the timelessness of the human condition. Many times a figure is nearly void of color while the environment in which the figure resides is full of color and depth. The individual is humanity and humanity – past, present and future – is the individual. Leaving the figure ambiguous within a painting allows the viewer to project meaning onto the figure. Each viewer’s meaning may be different, but the constant is that individuals, throughout time, share the human experience.

Similarly, most landscapes I do are products of my imagination and are intended to capture the universality of light, color and space. Each line in the painting is set to capture the energy of a particular element in the landscape. A single line that has physical depth (a thicker bead of paint perhaps) may represent a mountain ridge. It is my intent to convey the power of the mountain, or ocean, or forest through these few lines.