Biography

ARTIST’S STATEMENT For me, making art is trying to translate internal feelings about color, shape, and space into external color, shape, and space on paper; trying to translate a kind of internal sensory experience into an external one. Most of my work can be divided roughly between completely abstract pieces and desert, mountain, and jungle landscapes. I like the smooth, curving contours of sand dunes and the jagged lines of mountains on a far horizon. I like the color density of jungles and their saturation of greens. In abstract work, I like the heavy punch of contrasting colors that make an impact on viewers. I think my affinity for deserts and mountains comes from touring and working in the Southwest as an archeology major studying prehistoric Native American sites at the University of New Mexico. The geography of the area made a lasting impression. Working within a large space is where I’m most comfortable, and although I do work on smaller pieces, I rarely work smaller than 22” x 30”. I like the big space to get lost in. I’m fascinated by line, form, and color and how they can be brought together in a satisfying way. My work is intuitive. I rarely begin a drawing with more than a piece of an idea - a shape or sequence of shapes from which the drawing will emerge as I go. It’s a cooperative, if sometimes combative, effort between me and the drawings, which always have a mind of their own. A Word About Process I use Prismacolor Art Pencils and Prismacolor Artstix and lay down the colors as heavily as I can on a heavy weight watercolor paper. At completion of the drawing, I let the piece “dry” (although I’ve never used water soluble pencils). The Prismacolor pencils are made with the pigment suspended in a wax base. When the color is applied as thickly as I apply it, over time the wax and pigment separate a bit leaving behind a cloudy residue called wax bloom which can be lightly buffed away with a soft cloth. To fix the colors, I apply a light coating of diluted artists gel medium with a brush or soft sponge. The piece is then framed with a cover of non-glare plexi-glass.