"Here-Nor-There" Print

I am an American painter raised in Southington, Connecticut where I currently reside and maintain a home studio. My artwork is influenced by memories of my youth playing in tree houses, running through the woods, and splashing around in the ponds and streams of the Northeast. I have always been curious to explore what lurks just beneath the water’s surface, or what’s living under the log. My approach to painting is an extension of that early curiosity and its freedom. I think of it as a higher form of doodling without knowing what the end result will be. I have developed techniques for creating paintings that evolve from those old, blurry and abstracted memories. The process begins as a painterly alchemy of sorts using random brush strokes. I have come to realize that if I sit around waiting for a good idea, I’ll never get anything done. Having said that, I will still get a good idea every now and then that I must bring to fruition. Either way, I usually start with thin washes of oil paints, or inks that will take place with several layers over many sessions. The subtle implied images that are created are similar to the implied images that one may see in a clouded sky or reflections in the water. I then take a step back to see what has emerged into my perceived visual riddles. Over time, I strive to develop and resolve these chance images until the color, contrast and composition seem to balance as a whole. If it looks good I sign it! If not, I start over… I believe that the discipline of art is a two-step process; creation and exhibition. The studio life is a solitary creative journey of exploration. The resulting paintings are documents of that experience. Secondly, the artwork can now be shared with an audience. It is rewarding to have exhibition opportunities at Gallery 66 to show my artwork to the public. In the end, people will always see what they want to see, and they may interpret the artwork based on their own life experiences and “Unforeseen Perspectives.” For further understanding of my process please, watch the short video (see Vimeo) “Primordial Stew”, by Ty Stuyvesant