S T A T E M E N T

I work with acrylic paints and media primarily on unprimed canvas, using flat and wet techniques evolved from watercolor painting. Current works are mixed media assemblies to the extent that cotton string(s), frayed cotton canvas, ink and pencil are in the media mix (with acrylics) to varying degrees. Canvas and cotton string become 3-dimensional relief elements. My tools today can include spray bottles, eye droppers, squirt bottles, gravity and water-acrylic chemistries. All of the materials used read through for what they are.

My painting has become non-representational. I have been progressively blurring  figurative references (since 2014).  Loosely organic shapes and constructs, in whole or part, become something almost recognizable. Interpretation is up to viewers.  When building paintings I respect the physical properties of the canvas, paint, media, water, gravity, etc.. I treat working with these "elements”  as a collaboration and experience a greater freedom that this partnership inspires.

Each painting is a mixture of predictability and surprise. A painting is typically built in 5 or 6 layers, each one drying for 2-12 hours before the next layer is added. I paint with multiple canvases at a time and in various stages. Inspiration for the next canvas is drawn from recent works. I spend a great deal of time studying my paintings, especially when they are wet and active. How the media mixes, flows and interacts with the canvas is a game and a dance and I embrace the “surprises” the process offers.