My paintings are of places, people and moments. I usually start with pencil studies in my sketchbook to develop compositions, and to chronicle my travels and places visited. I paint mostly in oil, although I like watercolor, acrylic, egg tempera, ink, and printmaking for variety.
Working on site outside to make studies provides the vital coup du coeur (falling in love) with a scene – the attraction and drive to document its essence as human experience. For me, painting is often an urgent and exhilarating effort to capture a scene’s distinctive and emotive essence of light, color, atmosphere and often the emerging story before me.
My finished paintings may depict recognizable and celebrated places. They frequently involve narrative observations of our shared experiences. Part of staying fresh is to dare to paint what I like and where I find joy, especially when traveling. It means not becoming too intimidated by what has been painted previously by virtuoso artists, or refraining from painting something due to fashionable tastes.