Colorist painting
Events 2024
Artist's Statement
When I tell people that I am an artist, they inevitably ask me, "What kind of work do you do?" There are no easy answers. I have been drawing and painting and printmaking and generally making art all my life. A visit to my studio can look like several artists are at work there. In a sense this is true as I continue to experiment with new forms, materials and styles.
Much of my work is infused with memories and, depending on what memories I draw upon, those life narratives change. And like changing memories, I visit the same subject over and over and paint differently based on who I am now. Many of my early paintings are representational, mostly stylized landscapes. I have experimented with abstraction, often incorporating words. I use acrylic and oil paints, copper, pastels, charcoal, carbon black, ash, and whatever I can find to make the surfaces come alive. Color is the most important part of all my work, especially the vibrant primary and secondary colors - blue, yellow,and lots of red and green - both layered and opaque or translucent and fragile.
With much of my work I am attempting to suggest a narrative, not easy to do these days. Understandable storytelling in painting is very difficult unless everyone is familiar with the story. Think of how much art is based on the Bible.
I try to make the surfaces of my work vibrant and beautiful to the eye. My goal is to seduce the viewer who I then hope will become curious about what is going on. If I have succeeded, that viewer will enter behind the scenes and discern, perhaps my secrets, but more importantly, will start to imagine their own meanings and stories.
Hopefully we can have a dialogue.
Please visit my studio and look.