"Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter." - Oscar Wilde
Art resonates the inner life of the maker.
Interpreting a work of art is a reflection of the viewer.
Mountainside
oil on linen
24" x 30" (30" x 36" framed)
2000
Like looking at a prismatic glacial mountain, the sky entwines with earth as shards of light. Background into foreground with shapes shifting throughout, this geometric play of forms suggests an abstract landscape. Its flattened perspective and heavy texture pulls the eye from inside the picture to the surface.
Security vs. Freedom
watercolor pencil
11" x 8.5" paper
1986
Reaching for freedom, one leg stays securely below. Not wholly free and not truly secure, we mitigate our journeys forward.
Moon Dance
pencil
11" x 8.5" paper
1986
Dancing by the soft glow of moon light. Marveling at its magical quality of reflected sunlight. There are stories of our ancestors working by moonlight, sleeping half at night and half in the morning.
These are early drawings are from a series that float in the middle of a sheet of paper. My goal was to not be constrained by edges, to allow the image to decide for itself its parameters.
Sand in the Oyster
oil on board
16" x 20" (20" x 24" framed)
2018
Under the surf is an oyster pulled too and fro with grit under its tongue.
Life isn’t easy for anyone.
”All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare” - Spinoza
The pearl is a symbol in many of my paintings of the reward for grit & perseverance.
Thundercloud
watercolor
15" x 11" (29" x 25" framed)
2016
Thunderclouds are among the most beautiful clouds. A force of nature, their intensity and power are both legendary and majestic. Cloud gazing, we see a geometric structure with illusive figures emerging that hover somewhere between representation and abstraction.
Free association is the ticket to ride.
What does it bring up for you?
What do you recognize?
What is the poetic?
Translating an experience into allegorical, metaphorical, surrealist imagery.
To express and communicated viscerally, not literally.
Where Want Comes From
pencil on paper
11" x 14" unframed
1989
'Need' is the human condition, but 'want' is personal expression.
To know what you want is to know what you are like.
You don't have an appetite, your appetite has you.
Ghost Lily
ceramic
15" x 8" x 6"
2015
My forms translate well to ceramics. My muddy exploits are few yet among my favorite works.
The opening looked like the flower spathe, of a Peace Lily. As if in a flowing shroud, I imagine Catherine wandering through Wuthering Heights, cloaked in the moors.
This is built with slabs of clay formed in space. It is a slow process with many surprises. The white overglaze beads up into unpredictable patterns that is particularly successful here.
Carved Quartz Crystal in Silver Urn
oil on board
7" x 5" (9" x 7" framed)
2019
A symphony of qualities, this combination of clear, metallic and velvet were an etude to challenge my representational prowess. The image appears incantational, a clear flame in a silver chalice, retaining a thin veil of mystery.
Flying Dream
16" x 20"
latex on mat board
January, 2020
Like a labyrinth, this is a single line. The ends meet in this drawing to make an Eternity Knot.
This line pours out of me like a flying dream.
This style was born January, 2020 and has captivated me.
"A drawing is simply taking a dot for a walk." - Paul Klee
Promethean Flames
oil on linen
51" x 63" (54.5" x 66.5" framed)
1995
Prometheus famously stole fire from the underworld to enlighten mortals on Earth. Eternal discontent was his reward/punishment from the gods. This is the story of every artist who plumbs the depths of their soul to reveal its truths. Like flames, the lines dart from foreground to background. Bending space and synapsing forms, their interconnections might resemble brain activity. The surface is dappled with many layers of pure oil paint in a conflagration of color.
“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others”