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"I paint what I like.
"I paint what I need to."
Style
"Viewed as a single body of work, several different though common styles can be identified - from a certain Realism of the '07 landscapes to the Impressionism of the more recent Exigency paintings. But the fact of the matter is, my personal style is still evolving - with an isolated throwback or two into a 'traditional' Realism - as I struggle to free myself of learned predispositions.
"Elements of a unique, personal style are emerging, however, most evident in composition, (or where or how the subject is placed on the canvas), then in the use of:
- very sharp edges or boundaries between areas of high contrast, or between more detailed areas and those having less;
- rough or raw, unfinished shapes which seem to suggest more than the shape itself;
- and finally, isolated areas having smooth transitions between different hues, tints, or shades.
"Frequently I use backgrounds with little or no detail, but which have very subtle changes in shading, paint thickness, or blending. Not always immediately apparent, these backgrounds can sometimes provide a context for the foreground subject and/or can add more or less symbolically to the meaning of the painting.
"Besides the image the viewer sees on canvas, (which may be open to several layers of interpretation already), I've found that the title of a painting can add yet another dimension to the viewing experience. This is particularly true for paintings of human subjects.
"My work has been described by one critic as having captured 'heightened aesthetic moments.'"
Technique
"I use a variety of techniques, including dry-brush and multiple translucent color applications to get the results I want; beginning with the standard practice of using larger brushes to create the underlying, larger shapes, then working down to finish with smaller brushes. As work on paintings progress, I add progressively more detail or color blending only to specific areas of the subject to emphasize or de-emphasize those or other areas of the painting.
"I use flat brushes almost exclusively.
"Rarely do I dilute paint with water to achieve transparency, or add it to gels or acrylic thinners. I prefer to use instead, either very thin applications of opaque colors, or paints manufactured to have translucent/transparent qualities by nature of their manufacturer's original formulations. Without dilution, which can give acrylics a flat, lifeless finish, the sheen or the light reflected off the paint as it was applied is allowed to add yet another dimension of interest."
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