Painting is, for me, a vehicle for creating a visual experience of a moment of silence.  I find inspiration in the quiet agelessness of the desert and, on the coast, in the ever changing rhythms of water washing onto sand. To convey these images I use classical arrangements of form punctuated with color and textural contradictions.

 

I also simply love to paint.  Oil paint is flexible and can be delicately brushed and blended into the complex reflections and transparency of water.  It can also be roughly applied and manipulated with a palette knife into the various subtle surfaces of rock.  Painting rocks began by collecting a few from the desert, placing them next to my easel and painting and repainting until I could see the weight and feel the texture.  Painting water grew from a personal fascination with the challenge of painting arrangements of plastic bags - the basic elements are the same. When I paint water I work until I can see the water flowing.

Some of the galleries that have shown my work are:
    • San Diego Art Institute
    • Brennan Gallery in Palm Desert
    • Susan Street in Solana Beach
    • The Tarbox Gallery in San Diego

In 1968 I finished a BA in Fine Arts from Washington State University and then taught painting, drawing and fiber at Western Wisconsin Technical Institute for eight years.  After a variety of shows and art fairs in the Midwest, I moved to the West and continued work in fiber showing in a variety of venues including:
    • Center Street Galery in Santa Cruz
    • Tempe's Mill Avenue Arts Festival
    • Westwood Arts and Crafts show in Los Angeles.

 

Publication: Land of Sunshine: Contemporary Painters of San Diego County, James Lightner, 2007, pp 19,202
Member: Oil Painters of America

 

I can't imagine my life without the joy of paint and the complete feeling I have when a canvas is finished.