Artist Statement:

Often, more than not - you will hear that a artist has a particular style or that there is some kind of story behind the artist that leads to the types of work they create.  While I have stories that could take two lifetimes to tell - my artwork is not indicative of one particular theme.  Many times an artist's popularity is due to the direct result and in the end the artist finds themselves become more of a commercial artist instead of just an artist.  They become trained to perform as their customer base expects a style.

My own philosophy is that art is a tool of expression.  Expressionism should never be capped to a theme or style as the end result is that you may become good at what you perfect - but exploration into other realms will be curtailed and thus the artist themselves will become only what he has perfected.  Hence is the reason why when you observe the various pieces I have exhibited on line - you will see what I like to term “graduation to the next level”.  Meaning, there may be pieces that exhibit some kind of similarity - however - pieces follow that are dramatically different in style and approach.

Perhaps in a sense I am being hypocritical when I lead in with the statement that “there is some kind of story“.  Perhaps I do have one and it is different than the mainstream way of thinking.  Ironically - I do not consider myself a artist.  I like to create - yes.  And I believe that any kind of artwork should invoke emotion from the viewer (good or bad) and most importantly be an accomplishment for myself.  That in itself is my statement of the story behind my work - is that if I can invoke emotion then I have accomplished my creative objective. 

I paint and create because I strive to become better.  Even if (hopefully even maybe when) I hone my skills sufficiently to be recognized in the real world as an artist - I hope that my desire to break the rules and explore something new is never lost.  I was not always that way.   For the most part I was self-taught and so full of myself that I never got beyond 'my style'.  It didn't help that everyone was telling me how good my artwork was either.  For approximately ten years I left art behind and as I began learning about life in general - my attitude changed.  And in July of 2004 I delved back in. 

Since doing so - I now buy tens of books a month by various artists and try to learn “How'd they do that“.   I have purposely set a goal of mine to start each piece with the attitude of “I have no idea what I am doing“ and grab a book and attempt to apply a new technique.  It is not easy to perform sometimes and often times can be darn right upsetting.  However, in the end, when perhaps I have grown tiresome of one medium - I can switch into another and suddenly that creative spark comes alive once again. 

So in summary my artist's statement is: “I create at will and with the soul of an old-world explorer - hopefully discovering new paths to my own creativity.”  Viewers can come to their own opinion in terms of what kind of artist I am and what style best describes my work - but in the long run I will know that I am a artist who knows not yet what rests beyond the forest,  but I will document the journey along the adventure.“