Artist’s statement

 

Walking through the world one faces the mundane and extraordinary intertwined with disenchantment and inspiration. I find myself imagining that a bird preening in the sun shares my tactile joy at feeling the sun on my skin and the calm induced by a full-throated breath of ocean air. Juxtaposed with this can be despair at reconciling my place in a humanity that can be lighthearted and funny yet also destructive and cruel.  This is the broad spectrum that inspires me to paint. I’m motivated to record both the simple beauty of still nature and the seemingly disparate goings-on of humankind.

 

I paint in oil and draw in pencil or charcoal. I love the Dutch masters and strive to emulate the balance they exhibit in rendering small detail while creating believable environments. I generally work from direct observation with some collaged elements and improvised lighting trying to produce veristic realism.