Artist’s Statement

Often my paintings start with an idea that is spontaneously drawn with chalk on and old painting that I no longer love. Like 16th century graffiti, next to cave paintings 20,000 years old in a cave in France, or an old ship with peeling paint in Viet Nam that reveals its under layers of history. That is the real beauty to me, to find the random ageing process on objects that enhance the original work. It may take years to surface but I know when it reveals itself. When I think a painting is almost finished, I bring it into a special viewing area in our home to live with it and study it. Sometimes it stays 10 just minutes and returns to the easel. My wife of 50 years, Sally, has a great perspective. With a Masters of Art herself, she understands what I am trying to capture. We discuss the new work and if she says it is done, I mostly listen. If the painting still engages me and I can’t improve it, I know it is finished.
The older I get the freer I have become willing to try new directions, unafraid to paint over an old painting or just use my fingers or a screwdriver to make a mark. I try to have a dialog with the physical properties and letting natural moments happen without total control. Combining that with careful strokes of a brush, sometimes dipping my fingers and letting paint fly off the fingertips of my glove. I have cut large paintings in half after twenty years and given it a new life! There is a balance between order and chaos that is difficult to recognize. The chaos mixed with control is a contradiction I pursue.