I grew up in North Texas and now live and work in Cuernavaca, Mexico. My passion for art began at a young age. As a child I was surrounded by art and artists. My sister, Mary Rosalind was an artist and my father, Tom was a creative workaholic as I am today. He was the town sign painter and screenprinter, as well as holding down a full time job as a deputy sheriff for Dallas County. Growing up in Texas allowed me to live in the beauty of the Southwest landscape, inspiring my interest in fine art.
After serving during the Vietnam era, I eventually found the opportunity to attend Sam Houston State University where I studied fine art and printmaking. This set my formal foundation as an artist and throughout my early years I focused primarily on photo realistic works in acrylic and watercolor, as well as pen and ink, which I still have a great love for.
After many years of painting photo realism in acrylics and watercolors and especially with my move to Cuernavaca, I moved forward, experimenting with abstracts in acrylic. This pushed me to expand my horizons and tap into new areas of painting I had not yet explored. I went from using tiny pointed brushes needed for the photo realism to working primarily with 4-inch brushes. There is an obvious freedom and personal expression with abstraction and the larger canvas size and brushes push my creativity in ways I never imagined. I am deeply interested in the effects of color, texture and the emotional response to strong composition and design. By removing the representational of the photo realism I have found a way to create images that tell a story without the observational subject matter that is very exciting for me.
Today, my work is a bold mix of styles, ranging from contemporary abstract, using color and shape to show emotions, to expressionism, allowing the feeling to expressed. I attempt to bring a subtle, yet sophisticated feel to my paintings through a balance of color, composition and texture. My work has exhibited in galleries and is featured in private and public collections worldwide. It never ceases to amaze me when someone recognizes my name and after a few minutes of thought realize that it was I who produced the painting that hangs in their home or office.
The images that I create are a moment frozen in time, of a place that is disappearing before our very eyes. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find unspoiled areas of nature, a spot that can be photographed without the need to Photoshop out the human signs; powerlines, fences, buildings, windmills, planes, automobies, discarded trash and more. Nature is being destructed by humans ever day. Our ecological balance is being comprised to the degree that grass and trees may soon be a thing of the past. The very air we breathe is is being threatened by global warming and the deterioration of the ozone. We have not heard the voices of those who have warned us of the future. Now, art is the new language, with the ability to show the world as it is at this moment. Art, and hopefully my paintings, allow for one to see the world as it should be, rather than one spoiled by human touch. I wish to show the sky, the pastures, and the atmosphere in a way that create an enduring love of what little we do have left and strive to preserve it.
Artist Statement
“My artistic inspiration came from spending time as a youth, laying in the fields of North Texas during summer days and being amazed at the clouds drifting by overhead, constantly changing and becoming more intriguing with each gust of wind. For many years, I painted only skyscapes, devoid of land. While I still paint mostly sky, I have become intrigued by how the land helps to balance and give an illusion of size to the sky. I enjoy painting in layers, starting with heavy solid blocks of color and than adding thinner layers and glazes for transparency letting the textures and color build. I strive for depth and under-glowing effects to evoke richness.
I do not attempt to re-create an exact replica of what I have seen on canvas, but rather to capture the essence of a moment in time. I work in the studio from the thousands of photographs that I have taken in my travels around the world. The paintings seldom are painted from one reference. I may view a dozen photographs taken thousands of miles apart yet of the same sky to find elements that fit together in context to make the statement that I find compelling. The end product is a piece, which expresses that moment’s essence in a deep, personal manner.”
Gallery Representation
For galleries interested in representing my work, please contact me through the Contact Link on this website.