Gallery

Artist’s Statement

I have been painting all my life as a manifestation of my personal spiritual development. I make my paintings using Japanese ink, sometimes colored inks, water, and seawater on paper, usually a smooth-surfaced paper. I also love to use natural, hand-crafted, dimensionally-surfaced papers. I have found myself drawn to work with natural materials, such as driftwood, forest moss, pinecones, feathers, shells and stones, and occasionally traditional pens and Chinese brushes, to convey the ink to the paper. As I walk the beaches, fields and woods I am alert to any object that might offer itself to me to become part of this process.

When I feel the pull of deep discovery I place myself in a meditative, often trance-like state, and allow whatever forces are drawing me to express themselves through me and these media. This meditative-creative state usually lasts several hours and results in series of progressive or related expressive images. I do not allow my conscious intellect to control, or to intrude upon, the process. In this way I believe I allow myself and my materials to channel a deep, natural wisdom.

This process, from the collecting of the painting materials to the generating of the images, is an instructive and transformational experience for me. The images generated are a visible record of this experience. On rare occasion I make these images of my personal journey available for purchase to those who find their contemplative or aesthetic qualities a useful or enjoyable accompaniment on their own life journeys.