My Creative Process

To me painting is about problem solving through visual expression, which is not dissimilar to any other type of problem solving. Paintings start with either a concept of form and/or subject. Visualization of the concept can take weeks, months, or years before paint touches canvas. Sometimes a concept remains only a mental image to be continuously refined in my mind. Single concepts may become hybrids of several concepts. Many hours of sleep may be lost. I consider not only the end result but also the process, the techniques, and the sequencing by which a work will be created. The approach is methodical. The decision to actually paint is simply a compulsion to finally translate the mental image into a visual reality. Once the translation of a vision to canvas begins, each step, each application of paint or compositional element creates new possibilities for which I, as the artist, am the arbiter of good judgement. The original vision becomes a journey of continuous discovery and solutioning. It takes courage to act upon new possibilities as they present themselves; to challenge yourself to take an image off its charted course and as a result learn something new. Sometimes you learn what not to do. That is the creative process for me.