Painting
Pure Intuitive Art
I began painting abstract compositions with oils at the age of 20 in 1984 while attending the University of Washington. Now in my 50s, my style has stayed true to a core, recognizable aesthetic. A fan of vibrant colors since childhood, my hard-edged, two-dimensional compositions showcase a wide spectrum of colors and shapes. Muted colors and earth tones just aren’t me. When I paint, I fall into my abstractions, like I am inhabiting them—with uplifting emotions and sensuousness. These days, it feels like I’m painting by numbers, invisible numbers, to uncover a painting that was always there.
“The colors speak: I listen.”
59 red triangles in orange (detail), 1999, oil on canvas, 42 x 42
12 Paintings Retrospective
1984 - 2019
gorgonal, 1984, oil on canvas, 28 x 22, artist's collection
raborash, 1984, oil on canvas, 22 x 30
fasitune, 1984, oil on canvas, 22 x 28, artist's collection
ranadon, 1985, oil on canvas, 28 x 22, artist's collection
johart, 1985, oil on canvas, 24 x 36
the muse the wife Mother Nature and self love, 1996, oil on canvas, 42 x 42
59 red triangles in orange, 1999, oil on canvas, 42 x 42
The Spirit of Trees: Family: Spontaneous Combustion, 2000, oil on canvas, 48 x 48
Underwater on Neptune: Unified Field Theory, 2000, oil on canvas, 42 x 42, artist's collection
Puzzle No.1, 2012, oil on canvas, 24 x 24
red moon rising (Puzzle No.2), 2012, oil on canvas, 12 x 36, artist's collection
Untitled, 2019, oil on canvas, 24 x 24
Tuning Into My Inner Landscape
To Create Abstract Works That Mimic Nature
I tactilely enjoy the goopiness of oil paints, from squeezing them out of the tube, to mixing, to applying. When I start a painting I look in my paint drawers to see which oil tubes are calling to me. It is a purely intuitive process from start to finish: once chosen, the colors dictate their shapes, shades and juxtapositions. There is no pre-planning, no corrections mid-process, no exploratory sketches or outlining on the canvas. I am also dedicated to organic painting and never use rulers, protractors, and similar tools. Nature doesn't use tools nor has perfect lines, yet nature’s beauty is uncontested.
I don't think when I am painting—and I don't know what I am doing—in the usual rational or educated ways. Trusting this otherly voice has been a struggle in the past because it goes against typical art school training: I should be knowledgeable in what I am doing. However, at each decision point I steer away from my inner, educated critic and tune into a confident, transcendent voice. Today it is easier to hear and say yes to this voice consistently. My foremost goal is to create and express as nature divinely does; for me it is the only way to produce a sublime master work.
Painting under the influence of vintage vinyl records
fasitune, 1984, oil on canvas, 22 x 28
Beginnings
I attended college at the University of Washington for three years in the early 1980s, majoring in Industrial Design (under the umbrella of the Art Department). But my true love was and is fine art not applied art. So I dropped out and discovered abstract oil painting was natural and easy. I was innately confident intuiting colors, shapes, and compositions—even when the direction didn’t make sense to my trained self.
I was told this guiding principle: Honor what a painting actually is: a 2D creation. Do not consciously employ the usual tricks to create 3D.
Over the years I’ve had periods of struggle, to stay true to the intuitive process. I recently found this journal excerpt highlighting my past angst:
“Now comes the insecure phase: Can I save this painting and avoid digression/regression into unsatisfying past ideas. Avoid devolution! Where’s my faith?!” 12 July 1999
From the Archive: Thoughts While Painting
59 red triangles in orange
Painting journal excerpt, 1997:
I believe and intend this to be definitive of my ‘85 style. No gradations, no hairline details. No details imitative of reality. Pure abstract. This is not the immaterialism or abstract-realism I am seeking, rather a momentous launching point, pivotal. This is my crowning achievement of this style. My Mona Lisa. my Lavender Mist. It will be many paintings before I reach such a height again.
I was (a) little disappointed in my final solution to the left side of the piece. More time consuming than I anticipated or wished. Although I know when a solution is finalized, a new apprehension emerges at the beginning of execution: ‘Do I know what I am doing? Does this idea really make sense?’ Only my intuitive resolve and the faith in my ability….
03 June
59 red triangles in orange, 1996-99, oil on canvas, 42 x 42