Artist Statement:
I constantly desire to paint canvases that create the feeling of space. My tools are color relationships, layers of atmosphere and rhythmic interludes. I want each work to gently welcome viewers into a peaceful place within the painting and within themselves. The work sometimes begins with looking at the surrounding landscape or often begins as a conversation with the painting before it. No matter how they are started, the real work comes in the doing, while I am in the middle of it all, with the canvas covered and the spiritual nature of the work taking form. I am required to have trust in the unknown and yet-to-be, remaining open to change and chance along the way, but also to direct the creation.
In Door County, WI I lived in the woods and then in a farmhouse with open fields all around. The work is overwhelmingly a response to my appreciation of the fragile beauty of those remembered trees and the peacefulness of fleeting light and color across the fields and in the clouds above. I respond to the atmosphere and the private spaces and moments still to be found in our environment and daily lives as we have entered the 21st century. I am concerned with the layers of connection between our external world and that of our inner worlds, and how we relate to and are informed by our precious environment, each other, as well as our hopes and memories. I want to make visible the mysterious atmosphere of landscapes and spaces within us, our spiritual homes.
Each of us is alone ultimately. Understanding this solitude may bring feelings of sadness, but knowing that this is common to all of us can be profoundly reassuring. We can feel connected to our world if we notice. We can feel connected to those who are with us now, along with those who came before and those who are yet to be, if we care. I hope there are some who can feel this mysterious yearning mixed with wonder in my work.
