ARTIST'S STATEMENT
I have a varied background using my hands and creativity in a range of disciplines, including drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, design, music/percussion, construction, audio-visual, culinary art, brewing, and viticulture.
One discipline that I have practiced the longest and with the most vigor is painting. I started when I was 14 years old and have developed my style over the past 30 years. I started in an advanced placement course at Woodland High School, Woodland, CA, which boasts one of the best high school art programs in the state. I then studied painting and color theory for 2 years under the artist/instructor Gary Pruner at American River Junior College, Sacramento, CA. However this would be the last of my formal fine art instruction, as I embarked on my design studies and career. I would, however, always keep my brushes, oils and canvas close at hand.
My 20s and 30s, of course, were very developmental for me as a painter. My work from this period comes from my life in San Francisco. My process, which I still employ today, starts with photographs and the love of photojournalism. I have learned to look for scenes that have a certain narrative. I look for anything that tells more of a story than a simple snap shot. From one or more of these photos I compose drawings altering perspective and/or scale until I am happy with the composition, then I transfer the final composition to canvas. I want the viewer to notice the paint and how it is applied to the canvas while still holding to the figurative aspects of the subjects I’ve chosen.
My high school art instructor once told me: as a painter, one is still a beginner at the age of 40. At the time, of course, I couldn’t at all fathom this. But now I know what he was talking about. With age comes life experience and as an artist, with experience comes one’s voice. I am excited to have been reinvigorated as an artist and have taken a new approach toward how I create my art. I am now taking a broader view, using more developed concepts in the creation of my paintings. This evolution will show itself in the months and years to come as I practice my art.