smith river morning Painting

As a child I loved to chase butterflies, but was near-sighted. All I first saw of them was a bright beautiful streak of colored light. I learned to identify nearly 100 species simply by the colored pattern they made in the air while flying by. I would then give chase, and, if lucky, catch one - just to see what they really looked like. I was constantly astounded. In high school I lucked into some great teachers who introduced me to 6 color primary systems and the concepts of color viscosity and retinal burnout. Butterflies all over again. Later I attended university and spent a lot of time with a book by Joseph Albers - The Interaction of Color - butterflies yet again. After obtaining my undergraduate degree in art I went to see Robert Irwin (a hero) and hung with him in Salt Lake City for a couple of days - which boiled down to one hard question - did I want to be another fancy art school graduate, or would I rather just be an artist? - so I chose the latter. Over the years I have looked at the work of many other artists - and learned to recognize when the marks made were beautiful, honest and imbibed with the life experience of the artist. Like butterflies. I have come to understand and refine advanced color theories and incorporate them in my work. I have endeavored to make my marks look like me. And butterflies...