Modus Operandi

When I study the elements or watch birds, it gives me joy and makes me want to paint, to play with color, to feel the living vibration of things,

My basic goal is to achieve a strong recognizable image of nature, yet while working intuitively and spontaneously within a minimally structured framework.
I practice for this by looking often at nature as shapes, colors, and forms- sensing the look and feel of things. Then I paint or draw while imagining myself inside the form- whether it's a rock, a cloud, or the water. I immerse myself at the locations I like to paint, sketching lots of frameworks, tracing invisible structures- taking many photos.

In the studio, I setup to work wet in to wet horizontally. I use acrylics for their brilliant colors and flexible drying time. I paint on gessoed panels, first drawing a minimal outline in pencil. Then I work the brushes to balance intuition, inspiration, and a general structure into harmony. I try to keep things recognizable while experimenting spontaneously by partially wiping away layers, or spreading random pigments with scrapers, and blending en masse. I want to channel, or prompt a sudden spark this way, to render an unplanned inspiration. Unexpected hidden forms or meaning emerge this way, beckoning me towards a new direction, an outcome I hadn’t knowingly conceived..

My goal then is to co-create a painted object of power, reflecting a sense of movement, energy, and transformation- like an ecstatic experience of nature.