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“Where do you get your ideas?” is the question I get asked most often. First and foremost I am struck by natural beauty and the images it inspires – a gnarled tree limb suggesting a beast, boulders emerging from water like giant turtles, a mountain ridge like the spine of a sleeping deer. There’s magic in the wild and I feel a primal pull toward it. My paintings tell a story as well. I get a concept that I want to express, usually based on the human/animal connection and its evolving relationship. The composition of the painting pops into my head nearly complete. As I’m working on the piece, other images make an appearance that further allows the story to emerge. In this current series,
the stylized human acts as a guide to lead the viewer into the unknown
where non-humans dwell. This figure is not only an androgynous symbol
that creates safe passage, but shields the spirits of the animals as
well. These elements reflect the tension inherent in the various life
forms vying for existence. One of the thrills of painting, for me, is
creating a world on the canvas that hasn’t existed before;
plucking images out of the ether and giving them a place. Why would
that be so intriguing? I’m not sure; I think it’s something
to do with finding archetypes and the original pulse of Spirit. |
