My creative process has developed over years of working—outdoors, talking, writing, in my head, collaborating, in a myriad of ways, but mostly in the studio, with the utensils and materials in my hand. It’s not always, “just painting”, or “making an object” or “collaging”. I readily use what is in my lexicon of materials and repertoire of skills to execute the artwork or idea at hand. It is sometimes difficult to categorize my work. I am open to other media as the possible ideal method to reach my results. In other words…I have been known to invent materials with chemists or get down and gritty, mixing up a concoction of, say, potatoes for sculpting or a recipe composed of mud, concrete, hair and pigment. When I see it not flowing, I have to try some other way. When I am open and in the zone, the ideas usually flourish. If I reach a dry spell, I have to get-up off my chair and put “pen to paper”, or walk around the site…sometimes, something as little as that.
For more then 14 years I have been principally a painter, or rather, painting. Working mostly outdoors, primarily from observation…the process starts with finding a motif. I go around in a constant state of alertness—walking around my surroundings, looking for motifs, marked by “the right light”, as if it is a life force. Noticing so much more then on the simple walk to the post office, during an intentional search usually with my paint box or sketchbook, I could turn a corner, and suddenly—I have the “ah-ha”. I know I have found the right motif. There is a connection, a lot of pondering and, a participation with that setting. Hand and hand with finding a motif, the direction and type of light can determine how I see and what I want to paint. How I see and respond to light is what wows me and is my starting point.
I’d like to take you on a nice walk, ending up in someplace you never expected to be.
Stay tuned.....