I paint traditional subject matter in an untraditional way. My lines are often hazy, colors muted and forms simplified. The colors often run into each other. My compositions are rarely complicated; I prefer to keep the focus directed on my subject without many distractions in the painting. I try and integrate these components into a cohesive painting.
Mostly I work in pastels, acrylics, watercolor and oil paint; recently I have been experimenting with some mixed media effects. I like figure, still life and some landscape painting but painting figures is my favorite subject.
I have always thought that artists are born, not created and I have always known I was an artist. I think in many ways an artist’s skills are self taught. A formal art education can teach us many things about the process but only by having awareness and listening to our own voices can we develop our own unique style of expressing ourselves.
Some of the talented artists who have helped me along this path are: James Hempel, Terry Stanley, Joy Moone, Pamela Scezniak, Kristy Kutch, and Fred Bell. I have been inspired by many artists who have come before me: Odilon Redon, Marc Chagall, John Singer Sargent, Alice Neel, Lucien Freud, and Louise Bourgeois.
I hope to continue to have an awareness of my inner voice and an expression of it in my paintings.
|
