In 2000, when I transitioned from illustration to focus completely on fine art (non-commissioned art), the first thing I asked myself was “what should I paint and in what style should I paint it?” To answer this question, I began a process in which I first painted something that appealed to me, reflected on this painting, and discovered the aspects I liked and those I did not. In my next painting I eliminated certain things and repeated and developed other elements and techniques that I liked. As I have continued to repeat this process, I have narrowed the range of my subject matter, and my style of painting has developed a look that is recognizable.

My ideas from the many things I’ve seen and experienced in my life, including pieces of art, books on art, nature and popular culture. Many things, especially cultural things, influence me subconsciously. All of this stuff is filtered through my mind and synthesized in a moment of inspiration (or craziness) in a sketch. Because my sketches are quick and spontaneous (1 to 20 minutes), they usually accurately capture my initial inspirations. I feel more strongly about some sketches than others, and these are the ones I choose to develop into finished paintings. Often these images are “impossible” or “magical” and can be referred to as “Magical Realism.”

On occasion, I have an idea that I want to express and so I deliberately sit down and sketch to figure out how to best express it. This was the case with “Archetypes” and “Shooting Star.” These types of paintings are more heavily laden with symbolism which I have described within the “Paintings” pages of my website. I like to keep symbolic objects simple, so that they represent the essence of that thing, so that a plant is simply a plant, not a specific plant in a specific place, a boat is a boat, etc. Someone said about myths that they are “things that never happened but are always true.” The meaning of “always true” is that myths have significance and are applicable to our lives. This is what I try to achieve in my paintings.

Another way my ideas come about is that by sitting down with my sketchbook, one idea will lead to another until I have something unexpected with no pre-conceived meaning. This was the case with the “Night Watch” and “Adjustments.” These pieces have no pre-planned meaning yet strike a chord with me. Of course these ideas didn’t really come from nowhere but were filtered through my mind and through my life experiences.

Sometimes an experience I have had immediately finds its way into a sketch. For example, I had just finished watching “Death of a Salesman,” the movie version with Dustin Hoffman. The movie affected me strongly, and after watching it I drew the sketch for the painting “Willy Lowman”. I think doing this sketch helped me process some disturbing feelings about failure that were brought up for me by the movie. When the movie ended I felt somewhat morose and after doing the sketch I felt better. Perhaps the sketch shows a humorous perspective on a troubling theme (failure) just by virtue of Willy Lowman being represented as a bunny. And in this case I channeled my experience into a sketch, which later became a painting – art therapy maybe.

I like to use symbols in my painting. For example, the “Jungle” motif as seen in Willy Lowman is one I use in many of my paintings. To me the jungle represents adventure, traveling into the unknown, expanding into new horizons. It is interesting that in “Death of a Salesman” the character of Willy Lowman refers to the jungle in a similar way – he refers to his brother as having been brave enough to go into the jungle, and that he found riches there etc. As well as adventure, the green of foliage also represents life.

I like using animals as characters since they can represent non-specific people and personalities. If I paint a person, it becomes necessary for me to decide on hair color, skin color, and the individual is too easily compared to people in my life. Animal characters are more universal - “The Moonlighter,” for example, is a person who works at night and is very enthusiastic about his/her work.

If you would like to know more about the meaning of a particular painting, some of my painting pages have an “About this Painting” link.