about.

During those times in my life when I could clear my mind of other distractions and set aside times to paint, I would ask myself each day how I see the world at that moment. How would I paint today? What styles, what methods, what medium will best convey how I wish to interpret my world and express my feelings? What would leave me energized at the end of the day and allow me to gaze on something that I have created in the past hours? I find that I was never locked into the monotony that can accompany formula painting despite the fact that formulas are often what produce sales. I wanted to enjoy the creative process more than I wanted to be appreciated for pleasing an audience. Will it be realistic, impressionistic, detailed or an abstraction? Do I see light, or color or movement? Do I feel like painting the wind or the calm of a breeze? Will it be any of these or a combination of some? For decades I painted as my mood of the moment dictated, moving back and forth through all the ways that I could comprehend from what I saw in my world to what history showed me others had seen and how. I suppose because of that my approach to painting can be called derivative by those who see only historical influences. It might be said that as an artist I never found my way. But, in truth it is that I never lost my way; to paint for myself, my own pleasure so that I could enjoy the process of creation and have the results give me a sense of joy.