Landscape:
There is an essential liberty in going out into the great world and painting plein air, not unlike a child going out to play. To be in the day, with the day, and paint honestly what is before you. To forget about "making Art" and simply paint from that deep intuitive place. Then wonderful things happen. Sometimes the paintings are finished on location, but many times when I have them in the studio, I see and feel that they are not finished, and the process continues, and this is a great joy for me.
Composition is very important to me. The first aspect of this is the geological reality of creation, visible in the location I have chosen. So, when I set up, compositional elements play an essential role in what I choose to paint. As the painting begins other compositional elements come into play, like the warmth of the sun, the feel and look of wind, and other more subtle elements that emanate from within. The poetic elements, if you will. After all, these are just paintings, and poetic license is certainly asserted. I want my paintings felt as well as seen. I want my painting heard as well as to evoke that deep silence that eternity implies.
Fishers of Men:
The collection of paintings Fishers of Men are about the interaction of human and divine, about our relationships with one another and with the animals, and the primacy of God's love informing all relationships. The paintings are about painting itself. I make references to painters and paintings that are part of a tradition of painting that I am a part of. The process of completing a painting involves bringing outer appearances and inner realities into a coherent convergence. I trust intuition for guidance above all else. Painting is felt as well as seen. It is beyond words - a vehicle of the spirit.
