Artist Statement

     I respond to the effect of light as it travels across a given space; smashing into objects, creeping around the edge of forms, and leaking into shadows.It links up colors and shapes in ways that never fail to surprise or inspire me. When I am painting I look for ways to communicate the awe and humility that I feel in the face of nature. Nature is always flowing and harmonious and it is my goal to find analogies, through the use of paint, to what I'm seeing and what I'm feeling.
      My style is the way that I perceive the world and the way that I use paint to present that vision. My brushstrokes build form in a realistic, yet painterly way, that quite often generates an emotional response in the viewer. I use value to model forms and color to locate them in space. I don't rely on formulas. My goal's are expression and harmony and I will use a variety of techniques and color schemes to get what I want. Although I am not cultivating a trademark appearance to my work, my paintings clearly look as if they were all made by the same artist.
       My still lifes often feature fruit, antique bottles, and pottery ware; obects that I seek out and objects that find their way to me. I have learned from Chardin and the Dutch masters the value of a well composed painting. Although I paint from life, my paintings could never be confused with photographic realism. My paintings have a tactility and a color sensibility that makes them timely, yet indebted to the past. In the future I see my paintings becoming more expressive, more refined, more joyfully involved in exploring  the world around me.