I have always resisted an artist’s statement and the listing of previous shows in resume form. I’ve had positive things written in articles or reviews, but they were specific to the paintings shown and I’ve never kept a record. I’ve also been purposefully out of the exhibition loop. It took me some time to find myself as a studio painter and Streetroad is the first opportunity I’ve had to show these works.

As far as my process for developing ideas or subjects, it is born of experience, observation and evaluation. For me creating something doesn’t come from a preconceived idea. It’s developed through experience. That’s part of the reason I’ve always resisted stating the goal of my art: there is no way to know what is coming next. Something may happen tomorrow that could inspire me for years. A disagreement at work led directly to this show 5 years later, but that wasn’t a long term artistic goal. I had no idea where it would lead, although I’m very happy to be here.

Art and painting is an exploration of how I feel and it’s ultimately about me; the works in this show are self portraits really. It’s about how, where and why my ideas fit or don’t fit. As Picasso said, “painting is just another way of keeping a diary”. That’s very true, and a diary is written after the experience that inspired it. For me, art is much the same way. All of my paintings, in one way or another, are portraits of something or someone and my observations of, or experience with it or them. With a diary, after careful consideration the things that mean the most tend to find their way to the page. In my case they find their way to the panel.

About the area, this is my home. The place I know best. Knowing the area and the feel of the landscape allows me to look beyond and toward more universal ideas. I’m not the fashionable painter of scenery that seems so prevalent here in Chester County. I really don’t consider myself a landscape painter any more than I consider myself a portrait or still life painter. I’m a painter of my life, of my ideas and feelings about the things I experience. Because it’s a continual process, those feelings are always under review, forming new ideas and perspectives in my mind. For me, those thoughts and ideas refine themselves as the next painting.