Personal Artist Statement
Although I have painted with a number of professional and established artists over the years I still consider myself a self taught painter. I have always been in the search for the mental as well as the material tools I need to make my art ‘believable’. It is more important for me to keep experimenting with new and challenging techniques in my work than it is for me to establish a set style and palette of colors. I do have a creative ‘old soul’ approach to a peaceful timelessness in my landscapes and marine subjects with a hint of story telling and an attempt to convey hopefulness. I try to blend my creative thinking with the marriage of my materials. At times I withdraw my concentration in order to encourage happy accidents but I have a foundational discipline of balance that I am always struggling to alter. The result of my performance in creating a painting must always be worked out to my own satisfaction.
The truth lying within my creative purpose helps inspire a desire to work problems out whether it be a difficult onservation project or in creating a work of art. I am very self disciplined and demanding of myself. Painting for me is a necessary release from the intense patience of my profession as a conservator of paintings. I’ve always been creatively energized by listening to the upbeat rhythm of music, the smell of coffee, or by the enlightenment of the broken color brush work of the American and French impressionists. It is as important that I paint for myself as it is to leave a little bit of who I am behind”.