“Painting is a blind man’s profession. He paints not what he sees, but what he feels.” – Picasso

Why I paint.

I go for the feeling. Everything has movement.  It’s all going somewhere.  Beyond a mere likeness, I try to freeze-frame it — to capture the flow, muscularity and inner vitality of the subject matter, at that specific moment.

I start out with an idea in mind hoping to create a simple and meaningful statement — striving to reduce what I see to its bare essentials.  Each brush stroke is like taking a risk.  I sketch with charcoal and use oil paint in overlapping, thin layers to push and smear motion across the canvas. Somewhere along the way, the painting takes over.  Then I give it a shove in that direction.

I’m influenced by action painters like Franz Kline and Willem and Elaine de Kooning.  They inspire me to compose with a purpose.  To just put it down without much calculating.  To get it out. To say it like it’s never been said before.