ARTIST'S STATEMENT

 I am compelled to create and build things.  Creating art using an untried concept or method is what keeps me energized.   I am at my best (calibrated by a complete loss of my sense of time) when I am with a pencil and a blank sheet of paper thinking about a new art project.   Although I enjoy painting and sculpting in the traditional sense, I also enjoy pushing my  personal artistic boundaries beyond what I perceive as the limits for the medium at hand.  These bouts usually come in waves tempered by a return to traditional painting.  If  I've seen it done before,  it does not motivate me the way producing something new using something new does.  Perfecting the use of an existing template does not give me the challenge I need or seek.  I am driven to put my own stamp of creativity on it -- not just to be different -- but to produce a work of art using whatever materials and method will get me to the concept I have in mind.  I am by no means a purist when it comes to media – anything goes to get the desired result.

As an example of what I'm talking about, I'll use my current series of paintings.  I enjoy working with wood.  I enjoy doing watercolors.  I enjoy math – especially geometry.  I enjoy design.  What could I do to tap into these disciplines to then produce a unique form of art?  I decided to explore painting on wood -- not in the traditional oil painting manner but rather using wet-in-wet methods typically reserved for watercolorists.  In addition, I wanted multiple planes floating in a frame but anchored to a primary subject or concept.  Through experimentation using pre-stain wood conditioners, permanent acrylic/oil paints and wood finishing techniques, I developed my own method of producing 'watercolors on wood.'    The process involves smooth birch, table saws, belt sanders, band saws, routers, oil paints, oil stains, acrylics, modeling paste, lacquers, varnishes, and so on.     These materials are the means to an end --  an end I had in mind before I knew what materials might get me there.  I know I've succeeded when I'm happy with the results.  An added bonus is when I hear not, "It's different" but rather, "I love it, how did you do it?"

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