keep in mind its a work in progress......
Artist Statement for Landscapes 2017
My most recent body
of work it's not just about painting the landscape for its quality of sheer
beauty... it represents much more. My
work at its core has always been about a memory--a moment captured in paint not
to be forgotten. The places I paint can
seem uninteresting to some, but to me there is an unexplainable moment when I
realize I must capture the image that has presented itself. It's not only about
the former but also the mechanics of painting
Color has always taken a large role in my paintings. Shapes. .
these objective and non-objective interests obsessively drive me to
paint.
My previous body of work, though more abstract aesthetically,
the concept still remains in this new body of (work) landscape paintings.
The moment, time is fleeting.
first with my camera
then I transfer the landscape to canvas.
The more I stop and think about why and how I put paint to
canvas the more I realize just what a big influence the patriarchal members of my family have had upon my
interactions with each of them personally.
From a very early age watching my father and grandfathers
lay mortar to bricks, a trowel to large slabs of cement and small rubber hand
held spatulas loaded with bondo placed upon the curve of a fender
The part color takes in my landscape paintings is to not
only capture the colors that are presented to me at the time I take the
photograph, but to also capture how the colors made me feel, it is partly what
drives me to stop and take in or absorb if you will the colors within the
landscape and the feeling that I experienced within that moment.
Shapes that I find within the landscape are very comforting
to me for reasons I cannot yet explain.
They offer to me a sense of grounding or a familiarity to something else
that I cannot explain. It is never
really about replication of the landscape. It is something greater.
Static and irrelevant (how others see the landscape?)
They only look for a brief moment at its beauty...the time
they spend with it is but a brief fleeting moment....I would argue that the
exposure to instant and immediate gratification via electronic devices have
left the ability to stop and absorb something as simple as a color of a shadow
or the shape of a branch....
As a child taking many trips to our lake as a family we
spent many hours surrounded by nature....
also living in the country surrounded by trees and wild
life had a significant influence upon me
throughout my life.
I remember being taught by my mother to make "sand
trees" with the beach sand immersed in the lake water ....their shape and
textures intrigued me. The castle became
unimportant ..this is my first recollection of how key these elements of art
shaped me at a very young age
