We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
–T.S. Eliot
For me, the process of painting is a journey. It is traversed with prior knowledge, experimentation, and discovery. There are times when everything comes together in a piece and it is a success, but there are also times when nothing is working and the painting must be put aside and sometimes finished months or years later, looking nothing at all like the original. That is the glory of life, the unexpected serendipitous event, the mistake that helps us grow, the moment where a decision must be met. This is life with all its mystery and through it, I approach my art.
My innate curiosity leads me to experiment with new techniques and media. Because I am never content with making conventional artwork, I seek out new ideas, allowing me to grow and discover. If used as such, art can be a process of self-discovery and transformation.
When beginning a piece, I usually have no preconceived notions of the finished work. There might be an idea of general form or colors I choose to use but is the process that fascinates me, the ever-changing creation which grows as I paint. In my Dreamscape Series, which is composed of mostly oil paintings and some acrylics, I experiment with color, mixing paint directly on the canvas rather than the traditional palette. I am not always satisfied with the result, so sometimes I paint over them, producing new works which many times incorporate the written word.
I often take photographs of surface images like brick walls and cracked pavement. This led me to experiment with surface forms through mixed media pieces. The surface is built up in low relief using plaster and then painted. Sometimes representational forms take shape, and sometimes the reliefs are altered by carving into them.
Working with reliefs arose from a long abiding fascination of aged textures such as copper patina, tree barks and weathered buildings. It highlights the impermanence of life and depicts the beauty of decay that is not always recognized or appreciated.
Circumstances caused me to shift to painting small watercolors because of their size and portability. I draw on top of the paintings with ink to create pieces that resemble stained glass works.
I feel compelled to work in the realm of abstraction. As a regular meditation practitioner, I am inspired by shifting consciousness which gives rise to patterns, shapes, and ideas, forever changing into something different. I aspire to make the unseen seen, to spark awareness in the viewer that which is often overlooked.