I’m psychotherapist and an expressionist painter. In my art, I want, first, to explore unconscious material and, second, to produce a piece of artwork that I’ve never seen before. Rather than asking “What do I want to paint today?” I ask “What wants to be painted today?” I will exert some control over theme, but not outcome. This is the invitation to the unconscious.
I start with a mess. A BIG mess. I use acrylic paints, lots of water, alcohol (isopropyl, not the other kind), charcoal, magazine clippings and water soluble pencils to make an underpainting which will both inform the resulting image, and suggest new shapes and figures. I spend a long time trying not to be done with it--I give it time to gestate while I tease along it’s resolution. This is both joyful and difficult. After the mess, I use reductive painting to find a story and a focal point. I know I’m done when I’ve had a long look and can’t think of anything else to change.
I work mostly on psychological themes which lurk in my psyche: relationships, identity, meaning/purpose.
I love acrylic paints for their modern vividness. They are so immediate in their responsiveness to my hand and they dry so quickly. I can paint spontaneously with each drip and “oops” finding its way into the unfolding story. I always start with a basic idea (relationship, emotional baggage, tenderness, alienation, etc.) and a color scheme and let the creative process do the rest. Each painting has a miserable adolescence in which I realize (not always with much sensitivity) that the piece has to go its own way. From this point on I can only shepherd it to its resolution.
My influences are painters with whom I have only a few things in common: David Hockney, George McNeil, William Baziotes, and Paul Klee, to name a few. I love their images and artistic processes. I try to emulate parts of their works, like color or subject or overall artistic vibe, but I also try to make sure that I am painting with my own hand. In adolescence the goal of life is to be original. As we mature, the goal changes to being authentic. I want my paintings to be an authentic expression of my life. I hope you like them.
My current series is an exploration of “grace.” Grace is the feeling or presence of the free and unmerited presence of Nature’s care and blessings. Regardless of our spiritual or religious affiliations, emotionally healthy people must reckon with this concept. Good things happen, after all.