My Motives

I am striving to paint in a way that speaks to our contemporary times. Something that hasn’t been done before. How can I do that? For me, Steven Sondheim has an answer):

“Anything you do, let it come from you, then it will be new.”
— Stephen Sondheim

My goal is to absorb the world around me, throw off all the ‘shoulds’ that keep creeping in, loose myself in the doing, and see what happens. I’m trying.

I have always been drawn to painting portraits. I love the moment when I capture a likeness on the canvas. I try to get to that point as fast as possible, so I see them, like I’m with them, as a work on the rest of the painting.

I am currently developing a broader interest in figures with their associated clothing. Fashion is a form of communication, and an exciting artform itself. The movement, textures, and colors of fabrics excite me. Que Sargent, and many others.

People are not the only portraits I paint. Flowers and plants have life, movement and beauty that attracts me, and I paint those as portraits as well.

Furthermore, I was thrilled by the colors of the gemstones I saw in the Harvard Natural History Museum. I have been working on a series of abstracts based on gems and minerals, each a form of portrait. This has given me a fun way to play with color and technique.