Contrast & Texture
in Art and in Life
All is about contrast & texture. Life and art are nothing without them. Conformity,
while sometimes a necessity for economic viability, should never be an objective.
My vision of life and art actually includes bland conformity as a minor-scale
evil; in my mind, everything worth viewing and creating should be bright,
bold cacophonies of color, sound & taste.
I currently live and work near Boulder, Colorado. I am not an artist fully by occupation or by education, but one by chance and necessity. Although the starving artist icon is an intriguing one to me, I do prefer to eat periodically. After completing two business degrees, I have worked in various positions in the financial services industry. As you might imagine, in such an industry it is necessary to find an outlet other than one's profession for artistic expression. Hence, the works you will find here. From pen drawings in a sketchbook during Board meetings, to midnight splatterings of acrylic paint on monstrous canvases, I have maintained this outlet for myself. This site is basically at long last, a coming-out for me. Sorry, there are no showings of note, or art education résumé items to boast here…just samples of my work.
As you will see in the photo to the right, I picked up a paintbrush fairly early in life. As a three or four-year-old in Amityville, NY, I spent many summer days creating designs with water & brush on our asphalt driveway. I was just happy to be afforded a large and reusable "canvas" with which to pass my time. Amusement came easily to me, and as you might expect, an odd child generally grows into an odd adult…
I don't know when I realized it, but sometime between driveway painting afternoons, gradeschool in Loves Park, IL, college days in Baton Rouge, and becoming a working stiff here in my favorite of all the places I have lived, I sought the means by which I could adequately express interpretations of my environment, life changes, and surroundings. In this quest, I experimented with many mediums throughout the years. These experiments, some included in the Misc Gallery, include pastel, pen, pencil, watercolor, oil, scratchboard, printing, photography, sculpting, amphibian pornography and creative fruit & vegetable peeling (Okay I got carried away; the last two are bullshit.) After enduring a few rather trying and stressful years in my life though, I finally found that for which I was searching: Canvas, Texture and a Rainbow of Bold Acrylic Pigments.
I find a strange catharsis in mapping out representations of raw emotion and world interpretation on large stretched canvas. This is where my concentration has been for the past few years. I suppose it is because of the emotion involved in their creation, that my small collection of acrylic works appears a bit dark and disturbing to some who have seen them. I was once told that I should illustrate Stephen King novels…I take that as a great compliment, as that means the emotion is coming across to viewers. I do not work specifically to create oddities in some kind of warped realm, but am pleased thus far at reactions from those who have seen my work in person. They are available for your viewing in the Acrylic Gallery.
My second concentration in the past few years has been simple pen drawings, as small sketchbooks tend to be a bit more portable than canvas. I also have scribbled on just about every green-line report, audit summary and regulatory update manual that I have ever had in my hands. These small crosshatch sketches, mostly portraits, abstracts, and studies of one form or another, have provided me with a needed creative avenue when I cannot haul a large frame around with me, and of course when I am bored absolutely to tears..
If you got this far down
the page without vomiting profusely, I am truly impressed. Although most of
this is accurate to the best of my recollection, I am amazed that I actually
fit so many words on a page without really saying much of substance--well
you be the judge, after all this is art.
The Site
All together I have designed and compiled this site for the purpose of offering
a glimpse of whatever vision I might be able to share. I trust that you will
enjoy it. Please tell others, and by all means contact me should you be interested
in showing or purchasing paintings displayed here. And come back…I will continue
adding original works as they are completed.
