racine, wi
mixed media
The paintings begin with no preconceived plan. Inspiration can derive from a color, a texture, or some seemingly insignificant remnant of nature, but the urge to create always follows. The more I understand this compulsion, act on new impulses and detach myself from the end results, new ideas surface and the act becomes the art.
The paintings begin by building multiple layers on the surface. Starting with a mixture of gesso and bits of decomposed leaves, dust and hair, paint is layered, the surface manipulated, and sanded back or scratched to reveal its buried history. It is during this stage of experimentation that the painting finds its direction and I proceed intuitively. Although the under painting is generally spontaneous and chaotic the resolved paintings are very controlled, simplified and hushed enviroments. As in nature, the patient observer is rewarded a glimpse of its complexities.
My hope is the viewer will stop and contemplate the natural world around us, both seen and unseen, and foster greater conservation, and treat our natural world with the sacredness it deserves.
works:
