During this retrograde period I have been going over completed and undone sketches of the past. With some of them, like this one, there was a very simple idea that grew out of itself. The ideas for Stage were about searching for an emotional light, trying to capture the feeling of being alone and all the power within that. Finished in 2005.
1998 “both of us”
Being obsessed with cloth flowing in the wind, detaching itself from a clothes line and wanting to capture a kind of soul to the cloth, this obsession gave way to, or you could say, channeled Static Line, a series of paintings about releasing what may bind you and at the same time, allowing a sense of stillness. These scenes of clothes lines became a simple, silently descriptive subject matter, filled with intent.
2002 “firefly”
2003 “detach”
The following sketches of “passing” were completely abstract and severely bold in color, the idea, however, morphed into a more literal piece with out lines, shading and softer color tones.
2005 “passing on”
2005 “sink”
2006 “static lemonade”
2005 “let’s go”
Looking back during this retrograde period and coming upon these older sketches, I am considering expanding the series to outdoor steps, yard scenes, where the releasing factor takes hold again.
Here are some sketches done in the past.
Sketches of a dream where I saw the darkness enter the light.
The title and the painting itself may not be finished. I’ll be adding a thick layer of high gloss polymer to the surface, to enhance the shine of the piece. I wanted to make the stars glow in vivid white, so I used gesso on top of the oils and wax. The perspective diminished a bit with the addition of black. At one point, the idea turned from darkness entering a room and taking over the light, to the whole room falling away, letting space enter with spots of light. The idea wasn’t really about darkness being evil, but that it is, I imagine, where every thought begins, a place of pure potential. When painting this scene, I have come to realize that the task of making darkness enter light is impossible. Coincidently, it seems light always ends up consuming the darkness. From the words of an anonymous Russian sage,”There are no resounding victories of the dark side.”
Adding just a few colors seemed to work to my eye, but somehow, I want even more colors to sparkle throughout the piece. I think this one needs to be looked up close. Here are some details.
I’ve always thought that the details become pictures themselves, appearing as abstract paintings. Try this site, PURE ABSTRACT and see a new perspective to my artwork.
Finding adequate light for this piece proved to be more difficult than expected. The sun wanted to be very white, as well as the floor and the ceiling. I kept adding more and more gesso to get the intensity of light. I also wanted to get a more static feel to the piece by applying small particles of wax, but each time, I scraped off more and more of the ‘atmosphere’ to create a smoother appearance. This painting wanted the cool, uncomplicated feeling I started with in the early sketches. I couldn’t veer off from that path as much as I tried. The image remains very simple. ‘Sunrise’ is apart of the bleedthrough (past) series; a series of rooms that have a long perspective with light or darkness at their farthest point. They are abandoned rooms of another time, crumbling away, but at the same time, being filled with a light that remembers. What might appear as an office area, is now empty and the only life is the sun.
The image changed into this, a scene more chipped away at, revealing a raw canvas underneath as well as more texture.
This piece is not quite finished. There may need to be more sewing in foreground and around the abstract layering of wax. The figures in this piece appeared and disappeared. I wanted to create a static about them, but each time I brought them back into detail. The title of the piece is still up for grabs. Using the right words to describe this is not coming at the moment. The image started a few years ago, when I was painting the bleedthrough (future) series. The image was of two beings creating another in their likeness and this is how they went about it, putting a pail into a long trench in the ground. Although these figures were supposed to be more alien like, they kept reappearing as strictly human. I went along with it and any other detail that arose. But now this painting has ended up belonging to a different series; making it so, where the human/earth relationship is more present.
channeling the abstract 
