Artist Statement

        Perfection.  Is there such a thing?  So why are we always trying so hard to find it in all we do?  I see no reason to paint perfection.  In fact, I adore imperfection.  Beauty in the imperfect.  No one item is the same, everything and everyone different, not perfect but indeed beautiful! I love to paint a perfectly fine piece then push my paintbrush through it to deconstruct the subject.

        I rely heavily on color, value and mark making. I rarely blend and mix on the palette, I prefer to allow the colors to commingle and remain bright on the board or canvas. I constantly push the boundaries of color theory.  Although I do use local color in my work, I try to punctuate it with imaginative, unexpected color choices. Tons of light and darks.  I love to accentuate the shadows and the light.  It creates such drama, much like the chiaroscuro used by the old masters. 

       My favorite way to do this is with the alla prima painting method, using common big-box store, household interior paint along with thinned artist acrylic paint.  It pushes around the canvas beautifully.   Using this wet paint on wet paint method is so gratifying, the paint slides and puckers, bumps and bubbles, leaving chunky, sumptuous brush marks.  It also forces me to work fast before the paint dries, which allows me to keep from trying to create a “perfect” piece.