About

Art is life and life is art.  This has been my version of life from first day that I first remember.  As I view the world, my eyes, mind and soul reach for a place of commonality on the canvas; a place that I can communicate with the world; connecting the visual elements of time, place and imagination in compositions of vivid color with encrusted layers of color, adjusting my design, color and marks to find the best manner of telling each story.  The designs are sometimes delicate other times powerful and dynamic.  Technically, I crave rich colors that relate to the composition and message.   I apply the colors with rhythmic gestural marks.  The brush simulates the the passion I feel when wind blows waves through fields of grasses or  leaves in the tree layers over the sun.  When I answer the questions of why and how I paint, it is the need to find the complete understanding of a space that pulls at my brushes.  Landscapes give me the room to wander through my life's experiences.  Living in farmland until I was thirty and traveling to and through Europe and Mexico contribute variety, drama and excitement.   Focusing on forces of nature or the quietness of nature allows me to share  experiences with the viewers of my work.  Many times the chosen places are specific to the  moment that I am living.  Still, the layers of my landscapes include all that I have lived and symbols that I use to tell my my story about the particular place.   Even when painting a person, I like to include the landscape as the backdrop.  The Landscape provides clues to the existence of the human life.  Thomas Mellon once said" Artists have eyes to see, a heart to appreciate and a spirit to capture the moment." This is my truth.  I paint not to offer a literal documentation of life, rather I need to tell the story of a space.