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ARTIST'S STATEMENT (adapted from the end of "Watercolor Right
from the Start")
What is it that motivates us to paint? Perhaps the desire stems
from a need to experience
the exhilaration of creation and the timeless quality
that makes a life more complete.
If you have to paint you have to paint. That
is what painting is all about.
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| "The Night Watchman"
28" X 18"
It has become a tradition to paint the night watchman when I teach
my workshops in Acapulco. As many of us that want to will silently paint
into the night as this strange figure sits bolt upright holding his
cloth-wrapped-machete across his knees. His pose is always identical. |
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"Sunflowers"
22" X 30"
(Flower series)
My aim was to show the colorfulness of these glowing flowers
that I found by a railroad track near my home in Houston. I did not draw any
flowers. Instead I made a creative value sketch so I would know where to
preserve my light areas. I laid in the first wash in wet on wet. I then
negative painted many stages before I achieved the final painting. |
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"Enchanted Garden 2"
30" X 20"
When I miss the English countryside, I create idealized scenes
which I can enjoy vicariously. Enchanted Garden 2 is one such painting.
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"Abstract Mountain "
11" X 15"
(Abstract Mountain
series)
To assuage my yen for mountains I paint them! I make no
preliminary drawing though I do mentally conjure up a color scheme. Don't be
fooled by the simplicity of the shapes that comprise the subject. This painting
took many hours of pondering! Rather than making a rigid plan which can become
boring to execute, I laid in one overlaying wash over another to make the
unusually vibrant mountains, cliffs and valleys take form! |
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"Shadows at St. Pompon"
22" X 15"
The strong shadow shapes and the warm glow of reflected light in
the form shadows drew me to this subject, painted while teaching a workshop in
the Dordogne region of France. |
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The Guardian
40"X29 ½"
In this large, surreal painting the amaryllises become as trees that
dominate the strangely shadowed guardian. The painting was prompted
by my annual amaryllis gift from my son. It becomes a challenge to portray
the flower in new ways each year. Whence does the vanishing trail lead? |
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"The Wedding:Chilhuahuan Desert at Terlingua Texas"
Watercolor and Casein
Size 22" X 30"
A wedding present to my daughter and son in law, I started this painting
on site at the rehearsal. I then had to piece together a composition from
a number of odd sized, amateur photographs taken during the wedding. It
was hard to get the proportions of the figures to work as a group, and
even harder to get a likeness for the people shown. I had to view the
photographs through an eye loop! Squint at the painting and you will note
the interesting shape made by a combination of the mass of figures in
the foreground and the background landscape.. Also note the shadows cast
by the bride and groom as they merge in an embrace: Artistic invention
of course! Please email me
if you would like me to do a commission painting of the wedding in your
family and we can work out the logistics.
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"Tammy"
22" X 30"
(Nude series)
Tattoo Tammy, I call her, because her body is covered with
tattoos has been one of my favorite models because she falls into poses very
naturally. She is also a very sweet person. I did not pre-draw but laid in a
wash taking care to preserve light areas. I then negative painted until the
figure emerged. |
