Whether I am painting representational pictures or something purely abstract, I want the work to be provocative and stimulating. I want the surface to be active and full of energy, pulling each viewer closer like a magnet. When I paint images my need to understand who I am as a person and the dynamics of the world around me is revealed in some expressive manner. I live every day wondering how I can improve what I see and do to make something wonderful emerge from my subconscious visions. My inspiration comes from diverse artistic styles as well as social and environmental conditions. Many years have gone by since I first examined what motivated me to create art. I was always fascinated by history, like the Ancient World with all its mysteries. The Italian Renaissance where so many great artists lived and worked so close to one another, and the Twentieth Century where so many innovations and inventions have affected the way we live our lives. I draw from the Ancient World at times, and read mythology. I enjoy those myths of our creation. It is in these ancient arts and stories that I have found adventure. I enjoy so many artists it is difficult to say who is a favorite. In the Italian Renaissance, I try to understand the order and color of artists like Giotto, the veiled emotion of Da Vinci, and the fervor of Michaelangelo. The Twentieth Century too, has had such an influence on me with artists like Picasso, Kandinsky, DeKooning, Pollock, and so many others. In no other time could I have been exposed to such diversity which could generate such opportunities to create an iconography all my own. When it comes time to answering my own question of what motivates me, I guess I would have to say I have always had a strong desire to create, prevail, and be a contributor to history in some fashion. To empathize with the world, and find the essence of that experience in some painterly vision. |
