Professional Artist

            My fascination with color began at a very early age and has expressed itself in a number of ways through my artwork. The mediums I choose to work in have evolved as my experience and confidence has grown. Originally, I worked in watercolor, and despite comments to the contrary from other artists, I have always found watercolor to be the easiest of mediums to work in. Although watercolor lends itself to delicate and beautiful blending of color, I was disappointed that watercolors tend to dry much lighter than when they are originally painted on a surface. This led to experimentation with Oils and acrylics which are bright and colorful and stay that way when they dry.

          Selection of subject matter is a very personal thing, and my choices in subject and composition have evolved over the years. My original interest was in nautical scenes. I was fascinated with capturing reflections in water. Many of my earliest watercolors were of boating scenes and other subjects where I could capture the effect of lights reflecting off the water’s surface. More recently I began moving toward painting flowers and animals in the wild. As always, landscapes continue to be a common source of inspiration to me too. My focus is very broad, and I don’t seem to have a clear direction as much as some artists do. I see other painters that focus on the same subjects for everything they do. I’m sure that makes them experts on painting their chosen subjects, but I get tired of painting the same subject matter all the time. I love color and light, and any subject that lets me express that is of interest to me.

          I’ve kinda coined a new description for the style I’m moving toward with my paintings. I call it “Graduated Abstraction” or “Graduated Focus“. As I become more adept at my skills, I’ve learned the importance of drawing the viewer’s focus to the main subject while playing down the supporting objects in a scene. I’ve become keenly aware that I don’t prefer paintings that emphasize Everything in them. Conversely, I find myself attracted to paintings that are a little less “finicky” in the details. While this is a purely personal thing, most painting instructors emphasize the importance of “loosening up” your work. While a fully rendered painting may be impressive as it looks exactly like a photograph, that’s not necessarily art. A painting is not a photograph, and art is more than just capturing an exact replica of what the artist sees. So much of art is relaying what the artist “feels” when he or she is looking at a subject. This is especially true when painting en plein air (directly from nature). So, this is the direction in which I want to take my art in the foreseeable future.

        My artwork has been on display around the North Penn area of Pennsylvania beginning in 2003. I’ve also entered a number of paintings into local juried art shows, winning several awards along the way. A recent First Place finish in the North Penn Arts Alliance annual member exhibition with an oils painting called “Maddy” was one of the highlights of my career so far. I continue to hone my craft and hope to take this little “hobby” of mine to bigger and better places in the future.