Rhythm & Blues Painting

In my art, I explore the world in which I live. My artwork is a personal exploration of my environment and emotions. Each individual views his or her surroundings in a unique way. As an artist, I have an opportunity to portray images of my everyday life through my line of vision.Living in Philadelphia and Lancaster has had a vast influence on my subject matter. My interest in depicting an urban environment gradually developed into a fascination with the city at night, and the depiction of light and motion. For me, the city has always been an intriguing environment. I experience it as something that never sleeps; it seems more like a living organism than a place. During the day, people overpower the city. The buildings become a backdrop to the diverse crowd wielding its way through the streets. However, at night, the city itself comes to life and the people are the backdrop. The lights and the sounds create an atmosphere all their own. This energy of changing light and motion makes it a place of constant interest for me and has created a vast subject for me to work with in my paintings. When one looks down a city block at night, they see dots and blurs or amorphous colors amidst the darkness. In a photograph or in a painting, these vague shapes of color are accepted as representations of buildings or the blur of taillights. The fact that one dot of color in a painting could represent a large city building was what really inspired me to paint night cityscapes. I could depict an entire city with merely a few marks on a canvas. This gave me a freedom to create a world that is as elusive as it is understandable.My paintings and drawings have given me a way to express my view of the city on a visual level. By showing the viewer glimpses of light, darkness, and motion, I allow the viewer to see the city through my eyes while still accepting the images as a reality. This concept is one that continues to inspire my work and will hopefully generate many more paintings and drawings in the future. Recently my work has expanded from portraying light to abstract color. I love how colors react towards one another and can create reactions and emotion. This is something I continue to explore and hope that it leads me down a path of exploration and growth.