Some Early Encounters My parents had a book entitled “Art Treasures of the Louvre,” and a book about Charles M. Russell. These constituted most of my childhood exposure to art, except for the paintings of the local art guild, which I would peruse each summer’s end at the county fair. The book from the Louvre […]
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Artist Statement, February 20, 2012
“Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible.” -Paul Klee A teacher of mine defined Art as “Making Form of Experience.” His name is Victor Flach, and I spent my college and grad school experience arguing with him, but I think his definition of art works very well. Our experience is all we […]
Portal
Click on any image for a larger view. “Portal” -oil on canvas “Portal” is both a continuation (the fifth installment) of the “Apes” series and a departure, stylistically. from the preceding four paintings. I began it as simply an exercise in painting, and somewhere along the way it segued into yet another set of musings on reality, […]
On Meaning
Click on any thumbnail image for a larger view. “Oof!” “You know, it’s very hard to maintain a theory in the face of life that comes crashing about you.” -Alice Neel I have begun a series of mixed-media paintings on prepared paper. They will cover a multitude of ideas, but will be fairly represented by […]
Apes Series, “Homecoming” and “Three Graces”
click on any image for a larger version The “Apes” series as a whole has focused on the condition of humanity as an integral part of all that is, in contradiction of our tendency as humans to see ourselves apart from nature, as a separate and somehow special species. This, the fourth painting in the […]
Apes series; “Awakening”
Click on any image to enlarge it “Awakening” is the third painting in the “Apes” series. It is a re-visiting of the myth of Adam and Eve and the Fall; as the title implies, it assigns a radically different perspective to the story. Even as a child, deeply immersed in religious teachings, I was perplexed […]
Statements for Nance Galleries Anniversary Show
Here are some statements for my pieces that will appear in the 63rd Anniversary Show, opening at Nance Galleries in Evansville, Indiana October 30, 2010. Click on any image to enlarge it. 113. Mannequin This mannequin came to me with the scars and fractures of her previous life. She had such a winsome, yet wistful, […]
What Does It MEAN?
Click on any image to enlarge. “Troubadore” I frequently am pressed by viewers of my work to provide insight regarding the “meaning” of a particular work, or set of works: “What does this one mean?” It’s a fair question, because I claim to be painting “ideas,” and to be concerned with “layers of Meaning.” Fairness […]
Some musings
For several years I helped to run weekly life drawing sessions at AVA, a local community art center. One night we had a young woman named Melissa modeling. It was her first time, and she was quite good, and we used her frequently for a couple of years. Most of our models dress and undress […]
Apes series: “Anima, Connate”
Click on any image to enlarge it. “Anima, Connate” is the second painting in the Apes series. It depicts an alluringly posed human female on a bed, watched over by a female orangutan in a thoughtful pose. It’s a painting about femininity. More specifically, it’s about male perceptions of femininity, as it’s the product of […]