My paintings are fictional works, woven from countless fragments of truth I’ve experienced throughout my life.
My abstract paintings are mosaics of the Northern California environment where I live and dream. For me, the two idioms of fictional figures and dreamscapes are interchangeable. A landscape becomes both a memory and a fact, while the figures are depicted amidst dramas and dances that possess layers of fictional and theatrical qualities.
I’m drawn to non-literal realizations that invite the viewer to bring their own narrative and myth into the experience. As a committed and passionate colorist, I explore the interplay of hues and contrasts, focusing on the rhythms and sense of motion they evoke when juxtaposed. This creates an overlap of truth, fiction, transparency, symbols, and narrative. The landscape and human figure serve as punctuation within my visual dramas.
I believe no single artist can paint the complete truth. It takes the work of all artists to describe the human experience, condition, and dilemma. Each piece contributes to the larger whole.
Some of my paintings are part of a Sacred Heart series that began when my Zen teacher asked me how I could manifest the dharma teachings and meditation skills I had been experiencing.
As an artist, I quickly replied that I would paint ten thousand hearts! In Asian tradition, ten thousand is a synonym for an indefinitely large number. In Christianity, the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a symbol of God’s boundless and passionate love for humankind.
My paintings seldom represent a literal heart, but represent the light, truth, love and wisdom that emanates from the heart.
Biography
I was born in Texas, and grew up in San Luis Obispo, California. I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree from San Francisco State University, where I studied under key figures of the Bay Area Abstractionist Movement. Influential mentors such as Mel Henderson, Joe Hawley, Pat McKee, and Tom Thompson helped shape my early passion for the bold and colorful rhythms of abstract expressionism.
Twenty years ago, I returned to painting full-time after a career in telecommunications, which took me across the globe. My work in cellular start-ups in Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Poland, Taiwan, and Brazil left me with a rich store of images reflecting the cultural diversity and natural beauty of the places I have lived and worked.
As a founding partner of the Edgewater Gallery in Ft. Bragg, CA, I have sold paintings to collectors worldwide.
I draw inspiration from artists like Joan Miró, Joan Mitchell, David Park, the Society of Six, and Jean-Michel Basquiat.