Slide Show of Paintings

Journal Writing

Somebody brought up the book the "Artist Way" by Julia Cameron. I bought the book several years ago when I was starting to paint after a long hiatus. I hadn't seriously painted in sixteen years, raising my daughter and running my graphic design business had taken most of my time. Somehow though, as fulfilling as those jobs were, I felt very incomplete. Was it that someone suggested the book to me? Or had I just tripped upon it in an online bookstore. (I secretly love on line sources Amazon, iTunes because of all recommendations and cross-references.)

I probably went through half the book, getting up at 5 am to write in my journal. (I found the journal writing helpful and a cathartic process ensued, ridding myself of things that got in the way of my work, bad relationships was #1) The journal writing helped, but the actual process of painting was the most important. Getting into the studio and painting, (no matter how bad the paintings were) helped me find my creative voice again. The whole process of painting I feel is a way of communicating things that I can’t express in words. Those first few years, when I felt I was going nowhere, and “I had lost what ever talent I might have had… (If I had any at all, now real doubts were setting in)”… were very difficult. Somehow I got through it. I have painted over some of those real bad paintings, the old strokes coming through the layers of new paint add and not detract from the whole.
I don’t journal write anymore but am thinking about restarting. I ‘m not sure if I will get up at 5 am to do it, I’m not really a morning person. Perhaps the whole journal-writing thing will help give me some perspective in different areas of my life, and make me more disciplined. Keep you posted.

Lotus Fire

Lotus Fire, Earthtones, Paso Robles, CA

The lotus flower is viewed as a symbol of spiritual unfoldment. With the lotus roots in earthly mud, it grows upward in aspiration toward the light, petals opening out in a beautiful flower. At night the flower closes and sinks underwater, only to rise again at dawn through the mire. The Lotus is the symbol of the sun, creation and rebirth.

If there ever was a dichotomous element it would be Fire. Fire is the bringer of destruction, chaos and war. Symbolically it is recognized as a purifier, a destroyer and as the generative power of life, from the ashes of its destruction new life, new hopes. It represents illumination and enlightenment, destruction and renewal, spirituality and damnation, passion and love.The approach to my work is probably mostly easily described as intuitive and automatic.

My work evolves in a slow process, growing from a simple drawing, which more accurately put is the breaking up of space on the canvas. From here the layers and planes are reworked to form some sense of depth and space. These latest works are as much about color as the gestures and the material

Art

The mind is limited by its perception and reality is never absolute. Our reality is derived from "raw" sensations that are chemical and electrical triggers from our sensory organs and perceptual centers of the brain. These perceptions build internal complex symbolic representations of our personal realities. Individuals can then be said to garner their own sense of reality, with no two individuals' realities being exactly the same. The interpretation of reality in art is therefore subjective and abstracted in some sense. I make no attempt at visual reality. My work attempts to remove literal and illustrative images, and rely more on subliminal definitions of reality based on simple images, geometric shapes and gestures. This work is an exercise of reconciliation of the internal, the contemplative self with the external physical world, the transcendent possibilities of the self beyond our physical limitations. Geometric shapes hold universal symbolism. Though I intentionally do not set out to create a "message" coded in shapes, the meanings can not be entirely dismissed. For example the sphere, the simplest and most perfect of all forms, is the ultimate expression of unity and completeness. There are no points on the surface lesser or greater in importance and all points are equal distance to the center, from which all points originate. The Circle is the two dimensional shadow of the sphere, and is regarded throughout cultural history as an icon of ineffable oneness, of which there is no beginning and no end, the alpha and the omega.
The approach to my work is probably mostly easily described as intuitive and automatic. My work evolves in a slow process, growing from a simple drawing, which more accurately put is the breaking up of space on the canvas. From here the layers and planes are reworked to form some sense of depth and space. It is the working of dark with light and color breaking up the canvas in line and forms. Light radiates most strongly in darkness, and the light gives form to the darkness. I rely heavily on glazing techniques and the mediums’ nature of dripping and scrumming, working the paint or charcoal and letting it work for me. I truly believe my work reflects the medium itself as subject as much as my personal gestures. There is no said subject matter other than the illusion of space and its transcendent qualities. The piece is completed when I feel there is a sufficient sense of balance of space, light, dark, and color.