A quest for answers to the "big questions" led me on many adventures that, among other things, evolved into the study of modern physics, ancient Vedic science, comparative mythology and human psychology. A fascination with the Earth and physical laws of nature brings me to work in multiple media, integrating resources such as wood, ash, clay, glass, metal, water, etc. The spontaneity of paint and emotional power of color allow a certain expression of my humanity as well as the numinous and elusive connection to spirit. My methods continue to evolve out of observations of physical forces at play in the world, which I then draw upon during the creative process, employing, for example, gravity, flow, osmosis, erosion, friction, collision, creation and destruction.
I call my current series "Snapshots of the Phenomenal World." Each painting begins with a practice of mindfulness and is driven by spontaneous, now-centered mark-making and layering. Within the dialog, I respond to emerging imagery, moment-by-moment, sometimes painting with the artist's hand and brush, but just as often allowing outside forces like gravity and erosion to play fundamental roles in the emergence of form and pattern. Within this dance of discovery, I may begin to carve or erode what has come to exist. I am following trails of creation and destruction and recreation of form. The individual character of each piece literally evolves over time as the original ground, ingredients and actions become an entity. The edges of the canvas have become important as record-keeping for each piece. A look around the edge is like an excavation revealing some of its buried history.
A "finished" artwork, then, is my chronicle of a place and time period, my action, interaction and exploration within the context of the piece, and, inevitably, my contemplations of divinity, the mystery of life, the spirit that animates everything, the miracle of birth and the inescapable finality of death. I am often asked how I know when a painting is done. The truest answer I can give is that it's never "done." This particular end product is just where I decided I like this view and it's a fine place to stop for a while. For me, it's like how family snapshots are stills in the never-ending stream of time that just happens to include my life. |
