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1514 Grandview Drive Suite # 9   •   Champaign, Illinois 61820   •   mrartist2@cs.com

Paintings

 

Artist Statement:

 

I am interested in exploring popular U.S. cultural stereotypes, icons and the exploitation of the general public by the mass media.  I am especially disturbed by the perpetuating myth of the “All American Family” in their perfect home, surrounded by a white picket fence and a steamy hot apple pie cooling on the window sill.  Our spouse is magnanimous and our three children are obedient and respectful and have lettered on the high school sports team.

Lies, lies, and more lies.  It’s not only advertisers who shame us and make us feel guilty if we don’t fit the stereotypical family, it happens in grade school, in our place of worship, at work, and in the government.  I believe we have become a culture of hypocrisy where “image” is more important than the truth.

“Childhood Memories” is the story of my life.  It is my attempt to make order out of chaos in my world and has been a poignant theme in my work for over 25 years.

At first glance the imagery appears fun and whimsical.  Colors are bright and the mood is cheery.  However, upon closer observation a more disturbing reality begins to become evident. Underlying issues of abuse, rape, incest, and abandonment begin to immerge from one painting to the next.

A big influence in my life and art has been the surrealist movement.  The works of Giorgio de Chirico, René Magritte, and Salvador Dalí have been pivotal.

 

Process/Technique:

 

I try to pay particular attention to my inner voice, feelings and dreams and then record them daily in my sketch book. Sometime I draw these as pictures, other times as written text. Then at some later date I use these sketch book pages as springboards for composing a new painting. I may rough in some ideas, but generally I work directly on the canvas from out of my head, paying particular attention to my inner voice as I go and allowing the painting to develop before me. This special moment is what I call "In the Groove". It's nice when it happens because the painting flows effortlessly out from me. In addition, I love the process of oil painting; the mixing of the colors.

 

 

Childhood Memories Series

 

Pulp-Si-Fi-Freak Series

 

Artist Statement:

 

I have always been interested in combining different mediums into a single work. Many of the works in this section I have combined such dissimilar materials as: waterslide decals, photo-transfer heat stencils, old photographs and encaustic with oil and acrylic paint. Each technique presents new challenges which I must research with many different tests until I've achieved the results I am looking for. Sometimes, results are not satisfactory, but may be used to solve future problems.

 

Process/Technique:

 

Each picture presented a different obstacle. Some are straight oil on canvas, others are large photographs on wood with acrylic resin and encaustic. Many images that I use are found in old magazines and advertising layouts. I enlarge and manipulate them on the computer then transfer them to the canvas or board. Some, like the Gerber Baby picture, is hand drawn in China markers. I love exploring new mediums and their use in combination with traditional mediums such as oil painting.

 

 

Paint by Number Series

 

Artist Statement:

 

I have always been interested in combining different mediums into a single work. Many of the works in this section I have combined such dissimilar materials as: waterslide decals, photo-transfer heat stencils, old photographs and encaustic with oil and acrylic paint. Each technique presents new challenges which I must research with many different tests until I've achieved the results I am looking for. Sometimes, results are not satisfactory, but may be used to solve future problems.

 

Process/Technique:

 

I collect old "Paint by Numbers" paintings from the late 1960's. I study how they created shape and form by reducing colors to basic color planes. With this series I have taken photographs of recognizable people and broke down the shading in their face to its most basic colors. In addition, I also tried to paint their image in colors or a style which would represent their character. On pictures with black lines on, I used squeezed tube paint to create a thick 3-D line. Each of the portraits is an original oil painting, which is to say, was created by me rather than a larger version of an old "Paint by Numbers" picture.

 

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