Artist's Statement

When I tell people that I am an artist, they inevitably ask me, "What kind of work do you do?" There are no easy answers.  I have been drawing and painting and printmaking and generally making art all my life.   A visit to my studio can look like several artists are at work there.  In a sense this is true as I continue to experiment with new forms, materials and styles.  Many of my early paintings are representational, mostly stylized landscapes. I have experimented with abstraction, often incorporating words. I use acrylic and oil paints, copper, pastels, charcoal, carbon black, ash, and whatever I can find to make the surfaces come alive. Color is the most important part of all my work, especially the vibrant primary and secondary colors - blue, yellow,and lots of red and green - both layered and opaque or translucent and fragile. With much of my work I am attempting to suggest a narrative, not easy to do these days. Understandable storytelling in painting is very difficult unless everyone is familiar with the story.  I try to make the surfaces of my work vibrant and beautiful to the eye.  My goal to seduce the viewer who I then hope will become curious about what is going on. If I have succeeded, that viewer will enter behind the scenes and discern, perhaps my secrets, but more importantly, will start to imagine their own meanings and stories.

I am always hoping for a dialogue with the viewers of my works.

Please visit my studio and look.

As I did last year, all earnings from my sales will be going to Assist-Ukraine.org.