Image 9 Painting

Following ten years in the US Air Force as an electronic technician, I attended the University of Colorado, Boulder. For the next five years I worked as an interior designer, while at the same time teaching interior design part time at the University of Colorado. I then founded the Interior Institute of Denver, where I served as educational program director and president for twenty-five years. I am now retired, spending my time painting, writing and gardening. Subject matter in my paintings is non-representational, meaning that compositions represent nothing more than the forms, textures, and colors actually seen in the composition. Any meaning derived from a painting is strictly a personal interpretation of the viewer. I approach each painting as an empty space filled with unlimited possibilities waiting for me to discover. Recognizing such possibilities one can accomplish only through eyes free of all preconceived expectations, which is a paradox and difficult to do, since recognition normally implies "one knows for what one is looking." Although compositions may appear haphazard, I actually accomplish them through a discipline balancing mastery with chance. Mastering this discipline requires years of practice and extensive patience on behalf of the artist, which often results in frustrating situations of indecision. My art involves taking normally perceived situations, subjecting them to the elements of light, atmosphere and time, and depicting resulting abstract interpretations that are fantastic, yet equally as beautiful as the original reality. The quality of light affects the perception of a recognizable image. Light refracted through rain or fog causes distortion of images. Light reflected from a window causes the superimposition of images seen through the window. The light may be brilliant or dim, direct or indirect, such as defused, refracted, etc., resulting in a superimposition of many images of varying clarity and intensity. Time, a phenomenon of the mind attributed to memory, is both compressed and stretched, resulting in the perception of a composite of images entering the mind through the sensation of vision as well as those evoked and filtered through memory. The art I create is an interpretation of my perceived involvement with the environment as affected by the elements of light, atmosphere and time.