Artist Statement

I have been making images my whole adult life; filling sketch books with ink, crayon, and colored pencil drawings. I started painting @ 2017.  As I mature, I find images more capable than words to express the complex subtleties of the human experience.

At the heart of my creative process is spontaneity; letting go of preconception and trusting impulse. In this way the images I create are sourced from imagination where  ‘play’ is the process. Play inspires spontaneity which gives rise to unexpected composition. In the unexpected I find joy and insight.

Homeostasis is an important concept at the core of my work. The idea that individual objects and forces are in constant motion to maintain balance for the collective whole. Harmony is a fluid state.

My painting process is a series of corrections to create order from chaos. I start a painting unaware what the final product will look like. I may see colors or lines I want to begin with, but most often I begin by making a mark. From there, it’s one mark after another, with each new mark attempting to balance the tension created by the previous marks. Always bearing in mind the balanced whole.

My primary tools are acrylic paint applied with putty knives, painting knives, and found objects (that I press by hand to make lines, shapes and textures). My preferred surface is 300 lb. Hot-Pressed Watercolor paper. I like the gravity of this paper; the ‘give’ of the weighted surface allows the colors to be pressed into it.

I paint pretty much every day. Normally I will have 2 or 3 paintings in process at once. A positive quality of acrylic paint is its short drying time. During a session, I will start with one painting, then while fresh marks are drying, I’ll cycle through the others. In this way I work on each piece multiple times per session.

Frames on all framed paintings are handmade by me from hardwood stock.