Artist Statement
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
A lot of ordinary things are beautiful or remarkable if you look at them carefully. I try to describe with paint and brushes the things I see. Infinity is everywhere you look. When I'm standing in front of a blank canvas looking at the subject I hope to paint, I feel as if it is the first picture I've ever painted, that I know nothing. The problem is how to simplify and organize the infinite complexity and detail. It's not easy! That's what makes a painting interesting and alive: how the artist has attempted to capture infinity for you. The painting is a record of the decisions he has made - good and bad - in trying to get the essence of the subject. You can see in a painting the artist's working process, and also have his finished description of what he sees.
After 39 years of painting I still feel utterly humbled ("what am I doing here?!") in front of that blank canvas, but I know somehow I'll come up with a respectable solution, and the struggle is so fun! I work mostly with oil paint, which is a very dense mixture of pigment and a vegetable oil, usually linseed. I paint with soft brushes on smooth surfaced panels that have been sealed with an absorbant primer called gesso. Oil paint dries very slowly, so I have lots of time to change my mind. I'm using materials and techniques very similar to those used 400 years ago. I consider it an honor to work in the old way: just nature, you (eyes, mind, hands-your whole being), and lovely oil paint.
I was naturally drawn to painting, and when I discovered I was good at it, I felt obliged - driven - to use it to describe the indescribable beauty of nature, to honor creation by carefully observing it. My artistic ability was a gift to me, and my art work is my way of passing the gift, another way of looking at the world, on to you,.
