The paintings I create evolve through years of unconscious decisions in trial and error until answers make themselves known. Each work begins with slathered texture paste or raw plaster. Many of the designs are made with the circle or oval as the main narrative or with a swirl of some nature. This patterning or placement helps to provide movement and flow when color is added. The paintings transform through multiple layers of selective color. The first layers are added without a decisive action, but as part of the overall process, it is this color that will determine the overall outcome. I see myself in many of the spiral based works. The paintings move and transfer energies that I have called my “self portrait”. I can imagine the world around me spinning and I’m caught standing in the middle of the chaos. I feel a duality in most works, a struggle or battle between movement and the surface through its color.
I also teach for Mural Arts Philadelphia of Philadelphia. I have been with this program for 7 years now and have my hands in all different elements. I have painted for some wonderful large scale project up to 12,000 sq. feet. I also create small scale murals with students all over the city from public High Schools to after school GED programs. This has become a passion that fuels my personal work. It’s odd too, in the studio I only paint my abstract work, but with my students, the focus is the mural ideas that flow from their heads. Its such a collaborative process.
have a wonderful day.
Last updated: Feb 23, 2016