Paint this before I die!

Before Covid Artist Statement

Whether it is a lizard under the hot desert sun, cool river water, mountains at sunset or a trout swimming in a stream, nature and color are the foundations of my work. I strive to add humor and imagination into whatever I am painting. Some have called me a colorist. “exagerated reality” is the term that I now use to describe my working style. Painting “on site” is important to me. I like the confrontation of the mountains, water and sky. My energy comes from physically making marks on paper or canvas. The results from pickings up the pastel stick of pure color and using it immediately is a powerful statement about how I work. My art is; gesture, line, color: a visceral reaction to what I see. Vital is the process of making art in my life. Vital is sharing that art. After Stunning was the world pandemic virus that stopped all of my core efforts. Shelter in place seem to apply to my mind as well as my body. Frozen in fear was my daily bread and just being was all I could manage. Family and friends were an arms length or thousands of miles away but we comforted each other in many ways. As and older person, thoughts of the end of my time were swirling around me. There were so many things I still wanted to do and a list of things I wanted to paint. We couldn't go anywhere but I was lucky. I have a studio that is isolated and available to me any time I wanted to go. I had to make myself go, because I could not find reasons to continue to paint if the virus didn't let us go. Just walking through the studio door calmed my inner turmoil. I first only sat there or cleaned. I eventually found the stacks of cloud photos I had been keeping and went to work. They evolved into weeks of productive work and a painting series fueled by the thought of doing what I wanted: painting my clouds before die! I have made it through four months and continue to seek solace in the art of making art.