The Idea. Why Paint? Painting provides a mental relief and allows me to come to terms with my daily existence. I am very unromantic about the notion of being an artist and making art. I produce objects that document the fact that I was around one day doing something constructive. To put it another way, my painting are time sheets of my daily existence.
The processes involved in my work are addition and subtraction. I work with a layering procedure that is often laborious as it involves taping off square or stripes to give a desired effect. I experiment with paint and the way that it reacts with the tar that I use. The tar is petroleum based and tends to eat its way back through any amount of oil paint that is place upon it. I stabilize the tar with acrylic-based mediums so that the oils will adhere and dry. This seems to have endless possibilities and often brings welcomed surprises to a finished piece. I have a self imposed work ethic in each painting as I feel each piece must undergo a certain degree of layering for me to feel it has been truly formed. Each work is fully covered with tar when I feel the layering is complete and then the subtraction process begins as I remove the tar and reveal what chemical processes have occurred underneath. The finishing touches are added at this point or the whole thing is painted over again to my satisfaction. The last step is to seal each piece with beeswax and a coat of high grade acrylic polyurethane.
My work is a direct descendent from other artists that have or currently do work in the 20th century. I find myself drawn to nonrepresentational or abstract artists more than any others because I feel that the beauty of the visual arts is when a work goes beyond the allowances of articulation and moves the viewer on a level that cannot be explained or have to be. The object itself is reason enough for its existence. This is the direction I see for my work as I try to create things that take up their own personal space and justify nothing but themselves.
