Artist's Statement

As a child, I spent a lot of time in the woods and swimming, under water.
In the woods, I learned the value of my own silence, became self-reliant, and learned how to see with all my senses.
Under water, my sense of perception was altered; gravitationally, aurally and visually. I learned to question preconception, adjust my expectations, observe things the way that they are, and to appreciate the beauty of light streaming through water and refracting on everything I looked at.
The lessons of silence and "swimming freely" are essential to my artistic process.
I paint and sculpt.
Although I take notes on site, in watercolor, and may begin a plein air painting on canvas in water medium, the paint I concentrate in is oil.
The sculpture is molded silk and beeswax.
I also write music and lyrics, and have, for the last 25 years played bass, composed music, and sung in a trio. We play together in order to create, not to perform.
My art reflects what I'm interested in, what I am seeking, and how I see life. My art reflects my life.
My subject matter is the life force, a term I use to describe energy, mind and spirit. Sometimes it is the inter-relatedness of all life that I pursue. Sometimes I seek to understand the life force as it interrelates with time, and whether thoughts and emotions may transcend time if (and if so, as) they impact quantum particles. I enjoy exploring those areas of study where theology and science overlap and/or conflict. Since the subject is so abstract, as I begin to understand a concept I find it essential to take notes in visual art or in song. These often work off one another, and come out in series. Each piece is like a single word in a sentence.
My painting style varies, and depends on what it is that I've discovered along the way. The style all depends on what aspects of the lifeforce I've found to be so fascinating that I want to pass it along to somebody else. I don't hesitate to play with different techniques if technique is the conduit that will facilitate communication.
Finishing a piece usually means that the piece itself has achieved a balance, and an internal harmony that tells me that adding anything more will change that balance. I leave it alone, and if, after some time has passed it still seems to make a coherent statement, I take whatever measures I need to take, to seal the work from environmental degradation, usually varnishing it. I use archival materials and processes, no matter what the style or subject.
In psychological parlance, I'm an INFP. David Keirsey, in his book Please Understand Me II calls this personality type, an Idealist-Healer.
Astrologically, I have a Virgo Sun and Gemini rising;
Uranus is in the 1st house and Venus is in the 2nd house. Both are in Cancer.
Saturn and Pluto are in the 4th house, in Leo, with Pluto right on the cusp of the 4th house.
My Sun is in 12 degrees of Virgo, in the 5th house, with Neptune, Mercury and the Moon in Libra in close proximity to one another, in the 5th house as well.
I have Mars in Scorpio in the 6th house, and Jupiter in Sagittarius, highest in my chart in the 7th house.
The moon’s north node is in my twelfth house, in Taurus.
I don’t follow astrology, but it was an early reference point in my childhood, so it is a language that I can speak. It was the door that opened onto my spiritual quest.
Like I said, whatever technique facilitates communication...
I like chocolate.
Do you know me now?