Botanical subjects are an inspiration for me whether in the form of landscape or individual plants. I see them as architectural structures revealed by light. I seek the universal truth in visual forms through the play of light on, in and around the subject.
I like to be able to read a painting from across the room in terms of strong design and shapes. I work from the whole to the parts. I want to see the parts last. The camera has influenced my view, seeing unusual angles and shapes in a microscopic world. There is intense mystery and drama as light reveals plant forms. I magnify and overscale to bring the vegetation up to the scale of our human world.
Color for me is alot or a little; either approach makes color important. If light creates the form and structure, color, in its warm and cool vibration, creates the heartbeat of the painting.
Artists that have influenced me the most include: Vermeer for light, Manet and Gauguin for shapes and Daumier for the mystery shapes can express.
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