◄12

“Art for me is an ongoing odyssey. . . a childhood mystery now becomes a grown-up passion. 

I am, I admit, a color junkie and weaver of patterns! The subtleties and endless combinations are electric, powerful stimulants, adrenaline rushes – sparks fly!

So, where does the magic come from? Major influences are diverse: for example, richly woven textiles including Kilim rugs, weathered patinas, ancient tiles, and whimsical folk art. I am especially moved by the way certain patterns seem to repeat themselves in diverse cultures- in peoples who seemingly haven’t met- suggesting an unconscious sharing or what seems archetypal. I have become a gleaner of sorts, drawn to small bits of collected fabric, handmade paper, fragments from old weathered signs, horsehair– great boxes of stuff.

How do my paintings start and progress? Sometimes they begin with random, gestural marks, sometimes bits and pieces of collage. For me, art is a reactionary process. I draw energy from fireworks on the canvas- the giving and taking, the adding and subtracting- an interplay of purposefulness, accident, and invention. This process continues until my journey feels complete . . . the grand finale when the painting says to me, “Enough.”

My process is one of constant discovery- recently cold wax- its wondrous translucency and luster… its ability to build multiple layers. In a sense, my art is like Pompeii. Those markings and bits of collage have become sealed in layers of multicolored “ash,” sometimes only hinting of their presence by the form of gentle, topographic irregularities, but often partially peeled away to reveal glimpses of their history within.

My paintings feel complete when every day, again and again, the painting talks to me, telling me never ending stories, the joy of new visual discoveries. That for me, in the end, is the wonder and mystery of art… How a painting, which after all consists merely of canvas, paper, pigment, and juice… nevertheless becomes an unending source of new visual pleasure. All those colors, textures, marks, and patterns somehow work together, as if I the artist am only a witness.”