I have never considered myself as an artist. While I have always created works (in music, poetry and writing) – I can’t help myself; something inside me compels me to create – I’ve never viewed these actions as artistic, as the making of art. To me, real artists were few and far between. It seemed to me that most artists I was aware of were individuals who did things that normal people found absurd; things like hanging a small orange ball from the ceiling and calling it, “Your Imagination,” or leaning a snow shovel against a wall and calling it, “Broken Arm.” To me, real artists were people like Michelangelo or Raphael. People from the past. People who weren’t the same as regular people. It is only recently that I have begun to realize that there could be more to being an artist than I had thought.
My development as a painter occurred unexpectedly. It was through art history studies and design work that I developed an interest in oil painting. As the pull of painting became stronger and stronger, I finally overcame my resistance to commit, and taught myself to paint. My influences vary and range from ancient Egyptian to post-Modern. The most inspiring painters for me are Kandinsky, Rothko, Newman, Motherwell, Miró, Hoffman, Creme, Picasso, and Chagall.
My paintings are abstract, with the underlying structure of early modernism. I like the power of icons and devotional paintings, as well as the painterly approach of expressionism, whether of the American or German schools. I tend to like the approach of European art and the confidence of American painting.
I paint whatever I like, in a way that draws on no one particular method. I am not trying to blaze a new trail or create a new school of painting. Whenever I begin a painting, I let whatever develops lead me through the process. Each piece is always a new experience. I never think of the outcome; it is all about the development of the image. In my mind, there is always the thought of paintings by other painters, but it is the process that drives my painting, not the history of painting. My paintings vary in size, and money and time condition the execution of the works. The surfaces are different, depending on many factors, not the least of which is the materials.
There isn’t much to say about me personally, when it comes to my painting: my view of life influences what I paint and my pieces reflect my philosophical and psychological investigations. I tend to try to make positive paintings that depict universal ideals, while striving for simplicity in form and colour; paintings that reflect a better world for all and have an element of beauty and mystery to them. I hope my paintings have an initial appeal based upon form and colour, but that the paintings then reveal something more. While I do think artists create paintings by using their talents, in the end, in my opinion, the painters are unimportant to a painting, except perhaps, in an historical sense, or for some background information which could give art historians fodder for their studies. All paintings live or die on their own. I think we should let paintings speak for themselves, and if we do, I think every person will find that they will have a unique conversation. So, the next time you are looking at a painting that appeals to you, open your heart and listen to the painting, it may very well end up speaking directly to you.
