The only time I feel alive is when I’m painting…
My contribution to the world is my ability to draw. I will draw as much as I can for as many people as I can for as long as I can. I have always thought if you are able to do something you should do it. Drawing is still basically the same as it has been since prehistoric times. It brings together man and the world.
I have been an art teacher for 18 years. I want my students to experience what it feels like to make something.
Abraham Maslow said “A musician must make music, an artist must paint, and a poet must write if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What one can be, one must be.”
Drawing comes naturally, being a person is what I find nearly impossible.
Realism, Expressionism, all those “isms” – I just want to make good art. What it all comes down to is that I’m looking for the right mark. The one mark that will finally say what I want to say. Style makes its own way into the work. Labels are for the seer, not the maker – I mean, I never set out to make an “Expressionist” painting. I believe doing so would destroy the freedom to paint. I’m just trying to make the image work.
I use whatever materials I have about. Charcoal, oil, pencil, watercolor, ink, pastel – sometimes mixed – sometimes not – Often my paintings come from a sketch. The finished product may end up, however, in no way related to the sketch – I allow the image to lead me as I work. Not to say I give up control of the process. I am always aware of my choices though I may feel more directed to make some marks more than others.
Someone asked once what my goal was as an artist. I just want to make something that someone will want to look at more than once.