Blog

"A Thousand Words" 16" x 20", oil on panel. I had this old chestnut "a picture is worth a thousand words" pinging around my brain for quite a while. It could almost be a catch phrase for the times we live in. I remember seeing a picture of a group of people sitting on a bench in a museum, in front of a huge painting. None of them were looking at the painting, they were all intently focused on their cell phones. I began to wonder "is a picture worth a thousand words?" or is something missing from that equation? So the camera and the books represent the two opposing sides, but really in this contest there is no winner because no book or photo or painting can ever rival the beauty of nature. That's why the birds are free of the cage. Sounds like some heavy stuff, I know, maybe I've been drinking too much coffee!

           On another level, I like painting worlds that are within the world of the painting. I'm drawn to the idea that the image of the painting is set within the confines of the rectangle, yet there's another world that exists within the confines of the bird cage. We are all held prisoner by our thoughts, beliefs, superstitions, world views, etc;. It has always been my belief that art can offer respite from the taxations of daily life. I like paintings that make me think, but not too much. I don't want to be distracted from enjoying the colors, light, and brushwork. I hope to give the viewer some insight into some of the issues that concern me as an artist. Maybe they are the kinds of things that only an artist would care about, but my hope is that I can bring the non-artist into my world, by expressing myself in a way that anyone can understand. If I leave viewers scratching their heads in incomprehension, then I would only be painting for myself, and that's not my intention.

             My daughter bought this bird cage for me after seeing that I head done a few paintings with bird cages in them. It's a pretty cheap Michaels type of fake coppery patina, knockoff. It really is a bit gaudier than I would normally like, and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to use it. Then I placed it on a table before a window and the light helped to transform my vision of it, and I knew I could make it into something worth painting. That's the beauty of creation. I'm not bound completely by the scene before me. My paintings usually end up being a combination of inner vision (imagination) and outer vision (perception). I'm working both inside and outside of the "bird cage". The challenge is to find the harmony that exists between them. One of my painting teachers used to say that if it looks good up there (your arrangement) you can make it look good on your canvas. But what if your altering reality to fit a concept? Then you are adrift without a compass. These days I'm finding that's more and more, where I want to be.