Series

Beneath the Surface

In Beneath the Surface, I explore a number of themes.  The paintings are initially based on a series of images I photographed at the bunkers at Fort Worden, in Port Townsend, Washington. Theses decommissioned bunkers are a favorite place for local graffiti, but the Parks Department frequently comes in and paints over the graffiti with whatever paint they have on hand.  The result is a wonderful abstraction – a layering of images, words, and blocks of color.

I found the walls to be visually exciting, and was intrigued by the concept of hidden messages.  What exactly lays beneath the paint?  A sense of history and identity lost, the marks of those that had passed through the bunkers had been intentionally obscured, secreted away behind the fresh layers of paint.  The accumulation of layers seemed to me to show resilience and resolve, both of the graffiti artists and the workmen whose job it was to erase away the new marks.  It is an ongoing dialog between opposing viewpoints.

In creating these works, I had the desire to add my own marks to the mix.  The numbers in the paintings have no specific meaning, other than a reference to the abundance of numbers we encounter in our daily lives.  We use numbers almost as much as we use text, and are identified by several different numbers – in our bank account, credit cards, driver’s license, social security number, etc.  I am much more accurately identified by the collection of numbers assigned to me than by my name.  I share the same name with many other people, but my numbers are unique to me.

Littoral Translations

This series of work is an exploration of the “littoral”; the landscape between high and low tide. The series contains views of an internal landscape scattered with biomorphic shapes.  As my sights turn from the exterior to begin to focus on the landscape of within, I find I am fascinated by the “in between”; the lines the surf creates in the to and fro, the mini landscape of rocks in wet sand, the sacrifices the sea tosses on the beach.

Aggregates

Italy

For the past several years, I have been traveling to Italy, first as a tourist, then with a group of fellow artists. Tuscany is my home base while in Italy, and the beauty of the region comes through in the towns as well as in the landscape. After an initial attraction to the postcard quality of golden hills and cypress trees, I became entranced by the villages themselves.

For the most part, the pieces here are inspired by walls. Buildings several centuries in age show evidence of alterations over the years, as windows became smaller, or their shapes become more “modern”.

In Venice, I became intrigued by the gentle decay of the old buildings, and inspired by the graffiti messages on them. Not the “tags” like we see so often in this country, but actual messages to friends, directions to hard to find businesses, and even poems and drawings. In Florence, the marks became more aggressive. The effects of time are not as subtle as in Venice, and the graffiti is bolder. And in Rome, my obsession with the Colosseum led to a discovery of the arch, which, once I took an interest in the form, I began to notice everywhere I traveled.

Australia

In 2000 and again in 2003 I was fortunate to realize a longtime dream to visit Australia. The works below are just some of the pieces I created after my visits. Australia has been a fascination of mine ever since I was a child, and the reality lived up to my expectations. In looking back on these works, I realize that for me, the landscape was one of a series of circles, and most of these pieces reflect that. I was also drawn to the rock formations, especially those in Pinnacles State Park, a landscape both beautiful and foreboding.