ABOUT

I grew up in a small town in Massachusetts and became interested in art at a very early age. One of my first memories is of doing a grid drawing of Roy Campanella. As an adult artist I still employ the grid but in a very different way to create structure in my compositions. I have always been interested in using circles and triangles in my paintings.
My approach to painting is based on a need to establish a communication between my inner consciousness and the primary elements of art. The geometric figures and interplay between positive and negative forms reflect this dialogue between the inner and outer consciousness.
Oftentimes certain color relationships or textures observed in the natural environment while hiking in the forests and along the shorelines of the lakes of South Carolina or the marks of man in the environment may trigger or influence choices made during the creative process. I feel that my paintings represent a synthesis between certain aspects of the visual environment and the intellectual and emotional responses encountered in the creative process of painting itself.
For the past the past four decades, I have worked exclusively with circular forms on a grid structure. In their earliest stages, these forms resembled figures and later were referential to the landscape. However, the natural evolution of these forms, has been borne directly from the intellectual manipulation of circles constructed on a grid pattern.
The process that I employ to create my paintings is very methodical. During the earliest stages of a painting, the drawing , defining of foreground and background shapes and the setting up of color relationships are done in a very intuitive manner. This setting up of the surface is very
important; this activity triggers the subconscious elements that will be reflected in the later stages of the development of the painting. I would define this communication with the subconscious and the resulting dialogue with the painting as a spiritual activity.
It has always been my conviction that art should be a unique and pure expression of the individual creating it and should certainly do more than mimic nature. Current abstract art may be conservative and reflective of a return to the influence of abstract expressionism, but I see many artists
experimenting with new media and expanding the barriers to personal expression.
All of the images in this portfolio are generated by the interplay of geometric shapes over a grid. Juxtaposed with these geometric shapes is a loosely woven surface of informal, incidental lines and heavily textured
gestures. The combination of formal/informal considerations produces shapes, color, textures that relate to psychological and emotional state of mind. At certain times these states of mind can be tangent to real life experiences, both individual and group.
Also, the work in this exhibit is reflective of current influences in the production of my studio work. The nine circle mandala configuration has been strong in the images since the seventies, but more recently the experience of seeing tile patterns of the 15thc. Florentine artist Paolo
Uccello has manifested itself in an unusual example of sacred geometry – the stellated dodecohedron pattern from St. Marks Cathedral in Venice, Italy. In addition, the surfaces and colors of 13th to 17th century Tibetan tantric paintings have been a strong influence on the aesthetic of my paintings.