Artist's Statement

When I began to paint, I felt it was important to learn to paint representationally.  I spent years learning how to look, how to see, and how to paint the little patches of paint –– the little shapes of color –– that visually describe everything that exists in the universe.

But when I looked at other artists’ works for inspiration and the thrill of looking, I was drawn not to the very skillfully executed paintings that perfectly describe the likeness of a person, a place or a thing, but to those in which the artist created their own shapes and symbols –– their own visual language –– their own world of shapes and color. 

And so it has become the little patches of colored paint that interest me most in painting, as I have moved further and further away from representational work.  I love to see how I can place those little shapes in such a relationship to each other that the colors vibrate, hum and sing.  I love to create passages that may be rhythmic, gestural or atmospheric; the shapes may be goofy or graceful; they may reference things that exist in the universe or only in my imagination.

Some of my recent work deals with images of energy unleashed, such as tornadoes and nuclear bombs.  Some of my new work is inspired by patterns at different scales in the natural world - from molecules to ice sheets to nebulae. Other works are inspired by a shape, a color combination or a concept, and then I just follow the brushes and see where they lead.  In every case, I am exploring how these little patches of paint relate to each other.

I currently work in either oil, acrylic or encaustic.  The choice of media allows me to delve into different methods of working with the materials to explore a myriad of possibilities for creating beauty out of various shapes and patches of color.

Oil paint is like my oldest best friend –– I love how the paint stays wet and workable for an entire day, and I can mix and blend colors on the canvas throughout each painting session. Though I like to work rather loosely, with oils I can create a very crisp, tight line, a depth of color, areas that are beautifully blended, or I can build up a textured surface of paint. I love the smell of oil paint in the morning!

Encaustic is the most playful material that I paint with, and the least predictable. I find that I must be willing to let the painting become what it will, as by its very nature, it is the medium over which I have the least control.  After applying the melted wax-based paint, through subsequent melting and re-melting of it with a heat gun and blowing the melted paint around, I can allow the natural fractal qualities created by the mixing of the colors to emerge.  I may dig down into the melted layers to bring the first colors to the surface, or carve into the layers after they cool and harden.  The resulting beauty of the surface is absolutely gorgeous and unparalled in other media.

I recently began painting in acrylic, as I had a need for speed, size and control.  I love working large and fast in acrylic, as I can explore my visual ideas very quickly; I can make changes immediately; I can cover (and sometimes uncover) earlier areas; I can splash, drip, and spray, and create areas that are thick or thin.  I find it a very exciting and physical media which, due to the speed at which the paint dries, becomes a totally immersive experience.  Often when I finish a painting session, I emerge exhausted, yet thrilled and sometimes amazed at what I have wrought.

With all my work, I like to challenge the viewer to see the beauty that's right before their eyes –– the colors and shapes of paint.