ARTIST'S STATEMENT

Like many artists, my initial art was realistic.  However, early on, I changed the real colors into imaginary ones that I preferred.  In addition to loving color, I loved pattern from the beginning.  I chose subject matter that had lots of line and pattern in it.  Or, if the pattern was not already there, I added it.  I also began to choose objects, buildings, or figures from many sites and combined them into imaginary scenes.  I discovered that I could be even more playful and “make things up.”  Sometimes my love of pattern or layering of paint led me to make non-representational works of art, which I still enjoy.  But most often, my work is semi-representational or an imaginative, “whimsical” transformation of reality.

These developments led me to create my “whimsical birds,” which have become my “signature” subject matter and style.  They are unique and easily recognized as mine.   I select my birds based on their unusual appearance and personality.  My extensive travels have stimulated my fascination with birds in all regions of the world.  I “introduce” them to one another by allowing them to interact in my whimsical paintings.  After carefully planning my composition, I use aluminum foil with black gesso for the drawing process.  I further enhance the birds’ whimsicality through my treatment of their eyes and my imaginative use of colors and patterns.  My first Whimsical Bird Series is now complete, and the paintings in that series (when framed) are 36”x28” or 40”x32.”  Now I am working on a second series using a square format. The square paper is divided into varied shapes, much as an “abstract” painting might be divided.  Each geometrical section is inhabited by one or more of my whimsical birds, making it more complex.  I have finished the first few paintings in this “Birdland Series.”  Framed, each one is 30”x30.”

To see the variety of works I have created since the year 2000, click on the Gallery section of this website.                     

1/2022