How We See Art

Art is a deeply personal exploration into the depths of the artist – the events that are happening in their life and how they process the news around them.  Daily events play a huge role in how a painting will turn out. Is the subject matter related to current events if the artist happens to listen to the news, or is the painting influenced by a friend’s Facebook post? Other times, art can come from the internal dialogue of the artist. Is the artist happy or sad, playful, and so on? 

I have found that in my own work, I express an overall joy that I find in color and the details and tediousness of textures that sometimes consume my work. Some paintings have been thought about and regurgitated over and over in my mind before they come out quickly and thoroughly. Other times my work begins with a bang and then stops and can sit for days, weeks, and years until the resolve awakens in me. 

This work took three years to do. The nuts were cut out from the original work and were glued onto the drawing of the leaf after it was complete. It was the perfect leaf that I saw three years later that gave me the vision as to how to tie everything together. 

Many times my paintings parallel my writing. For example, long before I wrote my Shrubs & Hedges book I felt the book filling my brain waves in bits and pieces until it all came together when I sat down and began to write it out and select my photos from many of my journeys. Photos helped tell the story.

I worked with my editors to make the selection of four photos of mine at the bottom before and a colleague’s photo wound up on top of my book’s cover. In this instance the cover was a collaborative work of art.

 I know that all books are not for everyone nor are paintings for everyone, however, knowing these factors helps to explain why certain people are attracted to certain artists and not others. 

 I can appreciate everyone’s art, but not all the artwork that I see speaks to me. I appreciate the work, the commitment, and the vulnerability that the artist may convey in their work. I learn and am influenced. 

When you purchase one of my works I hope that my work speaks to you – strikes a chord of joy and/or understanding or even sympathy. I hope that it speaks multitudes within you. No matter when you look at it you learn from it – perhaps something that you have never noticed about the piece before. Or, how you saw it today has greater meaning than the day you purchased it. This is what I strive for in each of my works for myself and I hope it’s the same for you!