Girl with a Pearl Earring (Revisited)-2018 Painting

My paintings are an archetypal transformation of my life experiences, and whether unconscious or not, represent an innate need to express my love of nature, the universe and the human body. I often incorporate abstract imagery with figures as a metaphor for our reliance, and intimate relationship with nature. I believe my love of nature came from the summers I spent as a child and adolescent in a rural, farming community in which I was almost always playing or working outdoors. As a seeker of beauty and truth, I like to keep my paintings simple, and uncomplicated. [Mark Rothko said, “We favor the simple expression of the complex thought.”] My paintings are mainly abstract, expressionistic, impressionistic, and minimal. While not readily identifiable for subject matter, the viewer's defenses are lowered, allowing the unconscious and subconscious mind to freely explore colors, shapes, textures, light, space, and design in the context of their own life experiences. I attempt to tap into the universal (collective unconscious), and become inspired from all creatures, humankind or otherwise - sublimating energy into matter. I use both old world, and modern techniques, which I learned under the instruction of artists Frank Covino, and Gale Bennett. I am always willing to experiment with different materials and media, often incorporating materials like metal, mica powders, Pebeo products as well as raw pigments to enhance light, depth, and color. All of my paintings are photographed in a controlled photographic studio using a tripod. No images are artificially (saturated) colored or "Photo-Shopped." My hope is for the viewer to engage in discovery, and obtain insight into self, others and nature.