Nothing makes me feel so alive, so safe, so at peace with myself as to be surrounded by, immersed in, nature. From the solitude and freedom of the landscape I am able to express those most positive feelings toward life that can easily be doubted in other circumstances. I bring these feelings to the painting process--first to the sketches, then to the realized paintings. Each act of painting is an act of magic performed before my very eyes!
The painting process is a dance of deliberation between well-considered choices and happy accidents which together allow unconscious, unnamed thoughts and feelings to become visual. It is instinctive that the compositions are simplified, centered; and so, are usually composed on a perpendicular format. This compositional device brings instant stability, a sense of balance, and a safe place from which to begin contemplation. Composition is the skeleton; color the muscle. The color is chosen for meaning, for impact on the senses. Each layer of color provides a history of the process, yet only the final and direct expression dominates.
This work is endlessly surprising and suggestive and frequently thrilling in the adroitness of what has been accomplished. Each painting is a solitary, articulate message from my soul to all souls who recognize the thought and are left to wonder at their own private thoughts and feelings being reflected. The completed paintings become shining mirrors which reflect the intuitions and emotions brought to them by the viewer.
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