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About Art:
Art is the subconscious made conscious, the breath of the familiar into a new vision, the awakening of all senses.
Oh, blah, blah, blah. I wrote it. I meant it and its oh so pretty, but...
In reality, the process is about portraying layers of depth, shapes of light and dark values, and color color color with lots of thick juicy paint. No guts, no glory. There's a range in this exuberance, of course. Some subjects and moods call for a more refined approach in either boldness of color vs tonalism, and slaphappy brushwork vs the slender detail only a few hairs or the edge of a knife can bring. I like to mix it up, keep it fresh and responsive to the quality of the moment.
My artistic style is influenced by the freedom of the Impressionists, and so accordingly, the Asians, the Arts and Crafts movement of a hundred years ago, and the immediacy of plein air work. This takes the form of impasto brushwork with an eye toward clean color and definitive composition.
In truth my earliest teacher had to be my Jon Nagy’s Learn to Draw set that every child artist received. As an adult…
I studied with John Booth in Easton, PA for a number of years- he was my primary teacher, above and beyond the occasional drawing or painting class I have taken. He gave me an excellent foundation in the technical skills of mixing colors from a limited palette and applying paint cleanly. And equally importantly he showed me by example to always keep evolving as a painter through experimenting and trying new ideas. Be brave. It’s just paint.
I learned just as much from simply studying wonderful works of art in museums, galleries and books. Two of my most influential artists were not painters, but writers: T.S. Eliot and Wallace Stevens- both poets who held down fulltime employment in an office worker world, as did I. They kept me going for many years until I was able to quit the day job.
I'm an alla prima plein air painter- oils. Despite bugs, heat, cold, wind, rain and the rest of what goes into transporting materials and supplies to a location, there is nothing in the world like being in the vista that you are painting. I owe a huge debt of appreciation to the artists who have gone before me and am deeply indebted to the painterly influences of John Folinsbee, Joaquin Sorolla, John Singer Sargent, Thomas Moran, Tom Thomson, N C Wyeth, and Walter Anderson- the colors, the application of paint, the range of values, the fearlessness of painting constantly.
About Life:
Life is amazing.
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