I’ve been painting for more than 30 years and creating art in some form since early childhood. My current work has evolved from a representational depiction of subject matter, to an exploration of color and space and how that creates an emotion.
My influences are many and varied. Artists I get inspiration from include the bay area painters Richard Diebenkorn and David Park for their interesting compositions and vivid use of color, as well as the brilliant colorist Helen Frankenthaler. Milton Avery‘s big bold colorful works move me immensely. I learned from him that paintings don’t have to be busy to be intriguing strong works. I’m also drawn to Giorgio Morandi, an Italian painter and print maker who made tonal works of ordinary objects sing!
My goal is not to reproduce an exact likeness of my subjects. I use clean, vivid colors, with a palette knife or brush, to engage the viewer and move the eye around the canvas. My work is less concerned with being able to identify the subject matter and more concerned with using color, light and positive/negative space to connect with my subject and hopefully stir something in the viewer.
Whether I’m paining landscapes plein air, working from live models, or creating compositions from reference photos, the goal is always the same – create works that are emotionally honest, come from my core and express the joy, happiness, sadness, anger – whatever it was that drew me to the subject to begin with.
My hope is that whoever is looking at my work is carried along on the same wave of emotion that initially drove me to create the piece.