Figure

I seek beauty in the land and in my art. The figures I paint express the grace of the human form entwined with the grace of natural forms. Many years spent wandering gardens, mountains, and deserts, ever looking closer, have influenced the organic lines and shapes used in my flowing compositions. There is a balance of beauty and decay in nature. The light that glows in human flesh and makes things grow is also in the dark earth, moving through the dead and dying, regenerating into life again. The colors I choose, while rich and bold in the light, are balanced by dark expressive forms of shadow and decay.  The flesh tones I am drawn to represent a kind of inner glow and are not local skin colors, but color combinations created using thin transparent layers of color opposites. When blended optically, they create a third glowing color that cannot be achieved through mixing opaque colors. This light, glowing through layers of paint and layers of earth, is worth pursuing and I can find endless references to it in the human form and natural world.