Artist Statement

I want to capture faces, speak in pictures. I brush a line, thick or thin, to shape a face. I look at the face and it seems to stay the same, but if I start over, I get a completely different capturing.

Sumi ink is stark and allows me to make statements, contrasts, soften for shadows—make a painting live simply by adding water. I like small moments caught on rough paper—like poems.

Sometimes I begin by blackening the entire background, letting face or figure emerge from darkness. Again, about contrast. For larger paintings in color, I use oils, not much medium. I start with raw sienna, paint in darks lights shapes, slowly add layers of color to fill the canvas. When I want to leave parts of the canvas white, I force myself to keep painting. Maybe I don't want to call a painting finished. I like the small pieces. There is often a lot of open space, not filled in, leaving room for viewers to interpret the images as they will.

 

 

 

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