I have long admired still lifes and when I saw examples by such masters as Wayne Thiebaud, Paul Cezanne, and Janet Fish, I was struck also by the fact that an artist can be playful with the genre. Akin to an epiphany, I realized that a still life is actually something filled with life. Early on as an artist, I started experimenting simultaneously with oil and watercolor. Both explorations resulted in my employing a brilliant palette of colors, and the moment my seemingly abstract forms began to materialize into discernible shapes on my canvases, I knew I had found my favorite painting mediums.
The fluidity of watercolor and the flexibility of oil paint inspired me to investigate what it would be like to blend both mediums on the same canvas. That first application of dripping color onto a vertical surface and working the paint into perceivable shapes was quite a challenge. But I discovered if I used the liquidity of the watercolor in the backgrounds, the oil could be fashioned beautifully for figurative work in the foreground. What I call the “Ghostly Hollows” series resulted from this exploration. As time progressed, the oils took over my canvas as they oozed and dripped into exciting forms connected to my initial vision of bold tablescapes.
A new visual world unfolded for me, and I was the one solely in charge of interpreting it. The textured layers and contrasting colors within my work intensified so that my preferred medium appeared to be watercolors in oil. Occasionally, as I paint, I’ll have music playing in the studio, which inspires a deeper emotion in me. When I reach this state of concentration with brush and paint, I cease to even hear the tune or song. What I want is for the viewer of my work to witness my passion for life, my regard for the simplistic elegance found in common items, and the beauty I find in the things that surround me.