ABSTRACT IS SOMETHING
My work is abstract. But what exactly does that mean? It means that I don’t paint anything that is representational. You can’t visually see anything in my paintings. Not a landscape, not an animal, not a figure, nothing. Nothing that you can point to and say, without a doubt, that is a….
But my paintings come from something. A thought. An experience. A feeling. I have notebooks in the studio of drawings, shapes, things I see. Ideas. They become my compositions. I also hold in my head loads of ideas for paintings. Things I see and experience. The sky. Clouds, the Hubble or James Webb photographs of space. Gourds. Mushrooms. Light poles along the street or highway. Repeated patterns. Light and shadow. All of it becomes fodder for paintings.
Abstract images also come to life in the viewer’s mind by the viewer’s life experience. Some viewers feel like they need to decipher the painting or “figure out what it is”. That is not necessary. Instead, notice what you respond to. Are there shapes you like, colors you are drawn to? Does the scale feel overwhelming or soothing, or do you not like one or all of those things? What you bring to the painting is what you see, not what I paint or what I want you to see. That’s the way it is intended. I’m asking you to just experience the painting.
Believe it or not, I didn’t start my painting journey with abstract work. I originally was attracted to impressionist work, as well as expressionist work. Think Monet, Raoul Dufy, Marc Chagall. Art appreciation class at Green River Community College changed everything. Absolutely everything. I learned to see. And to understand. Understand that abstract images and thoughts come from something you already know or see, or have seen. Always. The idea is there. As an artist, I abstract the idea.
To see, to look, to think and to feel.That’s it.No message.I don’t paint with any deep seeded meaning or intent other than to share my love of color, form & composition. Slow down. There are no messages. Enjoy the break. A little respite from the world.