I strive to convey my own journey of thoughts, concepts, feelings and ideas through my artwork. I hope to connect, to resonate, to attune and potentially amplify feelings, ideas and concepts in my gracious viewer. Love it or hate it... but please feel... connect in either way. Apathy is a poison that ruins minds, people, families, communities, nations and the world.
Since I was an early teenager I've always first and foremost identified as an artist – a painter. Like most however, I knew I had to work a “practical” career in order to make it. Having come from a seemingly always financially strapped family... I joined the US Army to have a way to pay for a college education. It was in the Army that I learned to live as a leader... to take risks when necessary, even on myself. I always considered my past career and entrepreneurial endeavors as a means end to allow me the gift to paint full time when I “retire”. Life didn't go exactly as planned... as it seldom does.
Just before our son was to be born I was laid off, yet again, from my technology career due to the down turn in the economy and became the stay at home parent. I am usually an ever optimist and try to reflect and find the positive in situations. So, during my son's napping it took a lot of soul searching, meditation and honest reflection that I came to expunge expectations of others and expectations of myself and just be. My son taught me that I had to live in the very moment and be wonderfully grateful for the small and wondrous things in life. Through that I started to see the world differently... experiencing sunlight on flower petals with as much glee as my son did and I started to really look, find and see miracles in the every day life. With a bit of courage and a lot of green tea I started to use his naps to paint. I had a large complex series planned and in fact painted the first three panels of it. There are 11 more sets of 3 panels and I may one day revisit that project. However as if in self therapy, I felt that at the time I had too much political and environmental angst to do it as I envisioned and I pulled back to focus on the now... my surroundings. Therefore, most of my figurative artwork to date are from the walks I took our son on around Long Beach's beach, El Dorado Park, Belmont Shore, Malibu and Catalina Island from our scuba diving lessons and more.
We moved / returned to Columbus in December 2010 and since I've been creating artwork reflecting this wonderful environment with four full seasons to inspire me. I strive to reflect my surroundings while also reflecting my values of spiritual, environment and social consciousness. I began to feel truly alive verses the near zombie state I felt for so long. I began to let go of the past and remain present in the now. It's a work in progress but through this experience, through painting, I've transformed. Through the mishaps of the economy and the sage wisdom of an infant / toddler, who demanded I be in the present, I've began to feel that my innermost identity and my external reality were / are aligning. That is a awesome feeling that is near indescribable. That feeling lead me to doing more abstract art work, in an attempt to connect and convey my inner world to my outer world.
I finger paint acrylic directly onto canvas. I don’t use brushes or other tools. They make me feel disconnected from my artwork and hinder my creative energy flow to the canvas. The paint’s own texture, viscosity and volume at the time of each stroke influences the outcome as it rolls, slides, jettisons or gets dabbed off my finger and hands onto the canvas to be fixed in place.
I desire to be known as a Fine Art Finger Painter first and foremost. That is why my current and planned work spans landscape, seascape, animals, figurative, portraiture, florals and abstracts as subject matter. I strive to create a strong sense of painting style that regardless the subject matter the art appreciation community may be able to recognize my work by my method and style of finger painting. This approach allows me the full creative freedom to explore new subjects and further develop my technique. I am free to explore styles that range between contemporary Post-Impressionism, Impressionism, Expressionism, Abstract, Pointillism and more while leveraging symbolism as much as possible. My aim is to not get pigeon holed into just one subject or artistic style which can stiffle the creative flow in my art.
I've been “putting myself out there” by creating and publishing live artist painting videos. I show my full art creative process, including what others might consider blunders. The final art work is what you see, but the videos show how I visually arrived to that destintion. I hope that by doing so you might connect with me and my art at a deeper level than you might have otherwise done.
Thank you for your time and your sincere thoughtful consideration of my artwork for your sacred space... be it the living room, office, meditation room or other. I value every relationship. Thank you.
