Most of my adult journey in fine art has been the discovery of how various media can express our feelings and ideas; ceramics, sculpture, painting, collage (mixed media) have been my means of expression for for the past twent-five years. The greatest influence on my creative efforts has been because of my studies with Abstract expressionists during my student years of the 1940s and 1950s. Without any pre-conceived ideas, my art begins by manipulating non-objective forms which may develop into a story, a message, or mere collections of shapes, colors, and textures that please or disturb the viewer. The challenge is yours--- "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" to experience, or enjoy.
PHILOSOPHY
The exploration of the interplay of a mixture of materials,color, shape, and texture is the motivation for my current work. My underlying approach to creating these images (mixed media collages and painting) can be traced to my early education as an artist in the mid- 1940s and 1950s. The ideas of those American painters of the early to mid-twentieth century who became known as the abstract expressionists were considerably influential to both my developing aesthetic sense and working methods.
Unlike artists who work in a representational style, my pieces begin with no preconceived subject matter in mind; I do not anticipate their outcome. Instead, I allow each composition to develop, juxtaposing textures, shapes and sometimes dimensions. For me part of the creative act lies in searching for and finding solutions through random manipulation of material relationships. Much of my work is abstract or non-objective. I am not concerned with creating representational images, although on occasion those kinds of images do occur in an abstract manner. I am free to focus on the qualities of a variety of materials.
As the manipulation of these materials begin to unfold, I work within a relationship of shapes to the developing image and space, while utilizing a variety of materials and techniques. The contrast of mixed media materials leads me to experience with glossy to matte and textured to smooth in a variety of creative results. And the manipulation of wet media (water color, acrylic, glue,salt and alcohol) to accomplish varying degrees of opacity and transparency adds to another layer of complexity.
Although I begin with no definitive subject or idea in mind, occasionally during the working process a composition will begin to remind me of something. The shapes, forms or colors begin to suggest a place or scene. When this occurs, I am happy to let this unintended subject be my guide as the image emerges.