 ARTIST STATEMENT
Why paint? The act of painting has been under attack in recent years but remains a stubborn survivor. It’s been a fundamental artistic activity for millennia, ever since the first cave paintings were created, so it probably isn’t going away anytime soon.
I’m not blazing a new painting trail in my new work. Rather than attempting something novel I’m assimilating ideas received from numerous influences pursued over a long practice. Naturally what an individual artist does is mitigated by what’s come before in the art world. I admire the work of many past and present day painters. I began my career and was influenced by “post-painterly abstraction” when it was the latest phase in the evolution of the New York School but I’ve not overlooked the work of Los Angeles based painters. A few of my favorites: John McLaughlin, Karl Benjamin, Ed Moses and Charles Arnoldi. Some of these influences can be seen in the latest series of painting I’ve called ROOTS. But the roots of the current work also reach back to the painting experiments of my youth.
An unexpected stimulus for the new work has been the collection of California ceramics that has surrounded me since the late 70s. One piece in particular, a large vessel by California potter Robert Maxwell—awash with complex flowing glazes in subtle variations of the color green—may have been the pivotal factor.
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