Artist Statement

Although I hold a degree in printmaking, I have been painting in oil (with a cold wax medium) and also in acrylics since 2005. At the present time, the content of my work is predominantly figurative. The individual plays an important role in my work. Generally, my paintings are about solitude, space, shadows and the moments between actions.I paint people waiting, gazing, pausing or moving from one place to another. The surface of my paintings are as important to me as the image itself. I am always experimenting with color relationships and textures. I enjoy pulling colors up, pushing them against each other and looking for places where the colors will appear most luminous.

I love the intuitive and improvisational aspects of abstraction. Most of my non-figurative (or non-objective) abstract paintings are derived from personal sensory memories. My hope is that people who see my abstract work will be moved to bring their own history to the painting. Some of my non-objective abstractions stem from blind intuitive drawings executed as reactions to auditory stimuli. In some of my paintings, I like to explore the use of oil and cold wax mixtures - a technique similar to traditional encaustic painting.

In addition to being a painter,  I'm also a printmaker. There is a physicality to printmaking (especially "intaglio" or etching) that I love. It simply does not exist in the realm of any other 2-D medium. An etching is an art object in itself. It's almost sculptural. The feel of pressing or embedding an image into the dampened fibers of a fine imported piece of 100% rag paper is for me extremely sensual. I also find the repetition in printmaking very appealing. There's something very meditative about it. The content of my etchings is based on bits and pieces of old drawings and vintage photos salvaged from antique shops, flea markets and garage sales. I re-purpose these elements to create or invent a narrative that reveals the juncture of two worlds...the past and the present...the seen and the unseen. I like to call them "recycled narratives".  Often I attempt to capture in my intaglio work a certain sense of a moment lost or of an encounter missed. Usually, my intention is to reveal something mysterious, quirky or magical about the subject(s) I have chosen. 

My mixed media abstractions are inspired by the works of Robert Rauschenberg and Larry Rivers and other members of the Neo-Dadaist movement of the 1950s and 60s and communicate my interest in memory, the passage of time, history and travel.