Statement(s)
There are inexhaustible resources of wonderful forms to be found in nature—from the open landscape to the innumerable minutiae. It is from these varied sources that I create my abstractions; gathering material with which I attempt to communicate ideas about mark making, and creative observation.
Working primarily on paper from memory, sketches, and sometimes photographs, I make images inspired by my observations of nature's own drawings of its phenomena and their sinuous associations, creating motifs of organic lines that circulate and entangle, and shapes that gather and separate. Progressing intuitively, as I draw and paint, I explore my questions regarding the composition of gestural rhythms and semi-patterns. What is communicated with determined and/or implied repetitions (patterns, rhythms, grids)? What does an observer refer to when associating my biomorphic forms with their own observations? Do these affirmed associations validate a work in their eyes? Do we attempt to correlate the artist's shapes with what is known in nature? Why do I favor the visual/sensuous aspects of art, versus the conceptual? Essentially, what I am making are my own tropistic gestures worked as my hand imagines they should grow and decay, within my substrate's garden of figure-and-ground, where in its most basic form my artist's mark is my flora.
My personal religious conviction impels me to consider the ramifications of what and why I create, because to me the act of making art is both a spiritual and cerebral endeavor. It's a means of communicating observations, ideas, concepts, and aspects of existence. This I believe is why most art is a fundamental inquiry into the enigma of reality, and a manifestation of spiritual concepts. I often think of art as an attempt to redeem the perishing and cyclical forms I find, or reimagine. It is these temporal forms that I'm attempting to salvage by way of artistic record keeping.
In the end I hope that my work presents itself in a manner revealing my internal dialogue and true intentions. None-the-less, I continue to refine my concepts and prose.
Exhibits & Publications & Education
Because my graduate and post-graduate studies focused on music, and my early post-college years were spent pursuing a music career, my exhibit experience is not as extensive as I now would like it to be, as much as I actively seek exhibit opportunities. I have of course always worked on my drawing and painting through my years of studying music, and had the good fortune of studying with several excellent art teachers at Cornish College, as well as Instituto Allende, and Green River Community College. Bringing the two media of space (art) and time (music) together somehow is constantly being considered, but as of yet I haven't found a satisfactory means to combine my penchant for the tactile aspect of mark making with my musical preferences.
Here without shame is my meager exhibit experience, neglecting anything prior to my leaving for Boston, and with an amount of considerable satisfaction my education experience.
Pozzi Cafe, 2006
LitRag, 2003
Phinney Neighborhood Center, 2000
LitRag, 2000
Bandoleone, 1999
Pacific Dessert Company, 1999
Boston University, Boston, WA 1987–90
Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, WA 1983–87
Instituto Allende, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico 1983
Green River Community College, Auburn, WA 1979
Colophon
This site is using the Indexhibit CMS, with a tavo-modified template. Photos were taken with a Canon G9 and processed in Photoshop. Dreamweaver was used for editing code. Flash was used to create the cute little email envelope (to help hide my email address from spammers). Delicious is used for the links listed on the Notebook page. The nameplate uses the font Stratum 2. All work was done on a Mac. I love to buy my art things at Daniel Smith (especially their unique watercolors).