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These two painting
as the Lionfish, painting were done using a technique call
layering. I started out with cut in colors and then using
varnish media and a slight amount of pigment I created
transparent colors. I then took these transparent colors and
painted them onto the canvas, in most cases taking the same
transparent color and layer them over the previously dried paint
and thus creating depth, creates a richness of the color on the
image where ever this technique has been applied. I like to be
creative in many media. I love drawing in pencil and getting my
ideas down in my sketchbook for later reference and use. I draw
the same way I paint, by layering. I do not believe in using an
eraser, except as a means to clean up the edges of my artwork. I
love the freedom that a pencil allows me; I can draw anywhere,
while painting is more restrictive. One of my favorite methods of
drawing is pointillism. An art professor many years ago made me
use this technique to slow me down so that I could really see what
I was drawing. I still use this technique today to do study
sketches of the subjects I intend to paint. It is not unusual for
me to have a pencil drawing and a painting working at the same
time. As a matter of fact, I often have several of both being
worked on at once. Working this way keeps me fresh because I can’t
dwell on, or be too critical of, any one piece as I’m creating at
the time. Over the years many people and artists have influenced
my work, and me. However, I believe the greatest influence has
been God and the creations that He has put all around us. The
variety, the vastness, the splendor and the life nature fosters
are my inspiration. Then as now, my favorite things to do are to
go where there is water and animals: a zoo, an aquarium, a nature
center. The way I represent the creatures I see in my artwork is a
statement of my continual fascination with the world and its
inhabitants. My plans for the future include more paintings of
inhabitants of the sea not dolphins and whales but the reef and
its denizens, for they, too, are endangered. The variety of
colors, textures, shapes and sizes among the reef-dwellers is
amazing, and there is plenty of great subject matter there, both
the creatures themselves and the environment they inhabit. I have
also begun a series of pencil drawings of indigenous people of the
world, which I hope to be able to display in full in 2007.
A friend
who just returned from Africa presented me with a CD of subjects
that are really amazing, so there may also be a series of
paintings depicting African wildlife in my future. I love to be
creative in many media. In my artwork I want to try and preserve
nature, wildlife, and its inhabitants as I see them. I love the
many colors and textures that our natural worlds and it’s many
creatures provide. I love predators and especially the raptors
that patrol our skies on grace full wings; they are elegant and
beautiful to watch as they soar and sail the heavens. I love their
form; their power, their color and their screams of defiance as
they glide in search of their prey or simply enjoy their
environment. The sleek cat as it slinks through the tall grass or
under any type of cover as it stalks it prey, getting ever closure
for the pounce. I think the eyes speak of what is going on inside
and the cat’s stare is very mesmerizing and at times very intense
and piercing. That stare was the reason for drawing the piece
“Intensity”, where by showing less I created more tension and the
desire in the viewer to wonder what is he staring at with such
interest and unwavering concentration. The oceans and the variety
of life it nurtures also mesmerize me. I have friends that dive,
these friends have brought me back a plethora of images, and those
images are as varied as the creatures that inhabit the oceans of
the world. The reefs like the rain forests are being destroyed at
an alarming rate and I hope that in my painting of these reef
creatures I can do them justice and capture their uniqueness, for
posterity and all to enjoy. The oceans are filled with such
colors, shapes, variety of sizes and texture it ignites and drives
my imagination and creativity. I love going to the aquarium, the
zoo, the wild Animal Park and rehabilitation centers to be able to
study and sketch all of these fantastic animals. I hope that in my
artwork I can bring the magnificent unusual aspects of these
creatures to all those that view my artwork, and that it stirs
within them a desire to help preserve them for all time and for
all generations.
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