"Through my paintings,
I attempt to synthesize the long tradition of classical realist painting with
the inspiration of the relatively new art medium of photography. By drawing on
the skills from my previous photography work I utilize the camera to create
intimate “portraits” of my still life subjects. The pre-painting photographic
study offers a very specific way of observing and capturing a subject. While
using the photograph as a visual reference I then proceed to draw and paint
with the sight-size method and other classical techniques in the same way
painters have worked from casts or life drawing for generations.
As
realist painter, I work toward creating a painting which embodies the
historical techniques of nuanced paint handling and lighting. Painting in this
tradition is an exploration that moves me further away from the original photo
and allows me to continually explore these mediums finding where they converge
and where they separate. I use my fascination with paint’s unique qualities of
luminosity, texture and blending to achieve this goal.
In my paintings of
fruits and vegetables, my goal is not only to provide a realistic image of the
subject but also to capture the object’s uniqueness and “character.” I
continue to build the layers of paint while exploring a diverse range of
contemporary color fields and compositions frequently inspired from modernist
and abstract painting. My objective is to develop these paintings until they
express an emotive experience unique to the subject and the medium of oil
paint."