A Sense of Place

Most of my paintings are done from photograph.  I am not directly interested in the details of a specific place at a specific time.  The photograph gives me a sense of color and the composition of the photograph gives me a structure.  I work from my own photos.  I take them when I am driving to a class or a show.  I take them while I am on a hike or walking the dog.  Most of the pictures I take are quick shots (sometimes while in motion) taken with my iphone.  I am not a professional photographer.  The photograph simply helps me remember what I saw when I am am back in the studio.  Whether it’s the way light was bouncing off of a line or trees or the angles of rolling fields off in the distance, I am reminded of what I found visually interesting in that scene and that is what I paint from.  I translate that area of interest to color and texture contrasts in paint, letting other areas of the image abstract.  The ultimate goal is to create a visually interesting image that has a vague sense of place but has become something else.  It has become a painting, a unique work in and of itself.