My artwork primarily utilizes various media intended for Fine Art paper. Working within the technical parameters of Book Arts, Printmaking, Watercolor and Digital Media to create a personal visual statement. The juxtaposition of color patterns, color fields and typography as a repetitive background form the technical foundation for the use of a central theme. Combining spatial ambiguities and illusion to create the implied subject of the work. It is here that the visual incongruity of the work molds into a poetic juxtaposition that reflects a surrealist definition of the classic collage. A poetic voyeurism is implied through the combination of the exquisite, the esoteric and commonplace. The images in producing these paintings should not be confused with the process of the art of trompe l’oeil. A similarity should not be overlooked. I am more concerned with how each quadrant of color becomes a supporting factor to the selection of images that compose the “theme” of the work. Continued evolvement through the process of image and color selection emphasizes the relationship of color to a specific theme. The over all affect is that of a precise visual balance obtained using type, color, pattern and subject. This “spatial balance” is a technique I became aware of when producing black & white lithographs where the success of an image depended upon the precise placement of black and white planes complementing the image, thus appearing equally balanced. My art is a personal reflection of the contemporary American West and the values, issues and complexities surrounding the relationship of its inhabitants with nature. I have emphasized my western philosophy as a visiting assistant professor at five Colleges and Universities. In addition to my own work, I have collaborated with over one hundred nationally recognized artists and craft persons to create new fine art prints in a wide
variety of media. I was the founding Director of Fine Arts for the Sun Valley Center for the Arts and Humanities in Sun Valley, Idaho. The Executive Director of the Alaska Museum of Transportation and Industry in Wasilla, Alaska. The Executive Director of the Florida Keys Council of the Arts. I was the Master Printer for the preeminent father of the American glass movement Harvey K. Littleton working with the innovative process of producing fine art prints from glass plates. I have worked professionally and full time in the arts since my graduation from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1977.
