Art has
been part of my life since childhood. I always remember
sketching from a young age, and began painting with oils as a
teenager. I began copying the Masters in my youth, followed
by a period of impressionism in my mid-20s, and realism in my
40s. Currently, I am trying to move to a mix of impressionism and
realism. People have always been the focus of my art, but I also
enjoy painting subjects that include boating and seaside themes.
A number of my works have been commissioned portraits and an occasional
pet. I am an avid woodworker and enjoy creating frames that
reflect the personality of my paintings.
Other than some art classes in High School, there has been no other
'formal' art training. I studied Architecture as a freshman in
college, before joining the Navy. While in the navy I embarked on
my impressionistic period – a rebellion against convention and an
attempt to put some of my life philosophy into my art, painting
primarily in acrylics. After the Navy, I studied
Mathematics and Physics, and eventually ended up teaching at Murray
State University for 25 years. This period of my life was very
structured and technical, as one might imagine based on my
career. My artistic style changed, reflecting many years of
technical detail. It was all about precision and
realism.
When my wife and I retired, we moved onto a boat for about a decade,
traveling the east coast and Caribbean. It was at this
point I adopted watercolor as my primary medium, due to its ease of
portability and simplicity. It was also a period in which I
painted more scenery and marine settings. My early
watercolors continued my ‘realistic’ style, but as I have progressed to
the present, I have been in a constant attempt to free up my painting
style and let the medium direct me, rather than the other way around.
As Pablo Picasso once said, we are all artists as children, the problem
is to remain one as we grow up. I will keep trying to
rediscover that right-brained freedom of my youth that is such a
pre-requisite to becoming a true artist. In the meantime, I can
only hope to stay healthy and busy and now and then produce something
that someone enjoys.
I feel honored to be a member of the Murray Art Guild, and the Paducah
Area Painters Alliance. The artists I have met through such
groups both humble me and inspire me.
