My body of work explores the act of painting as an exercise in meditation. The stillness and ensuing insight that is born in the experience of creating art is the reason that I have always moved toward this process. My aim in releasing these works into the world is so that others may soften their gaze (and turn it inward), sense a bit of stillness, and as a result connect with a deeper level of experience.
Although these works reflect the interior landscape of the artist at the moment of their creation, they also serve to encourage a state of mindfulness, or the quality of mind that notices what is present, without judgment, without interference, in all who come to view them. In this way, the canvas serves as a great mirror illuminating and making visible that, which lies beneath the surface.
When approaching the process of painting, I do so with the reverence and awareness that accompanies me when moving toward the act of meditation. As I engage in the act, the notion of self falls away and I become a mere vehicle through which breath and movement fuse with paint and transform into a much deeper understanding of truth and ultimately reality. In order to accomplish this, I abandon the use of specific images and symbols, which represent things and events unfolding in my ordinary life. The recreation of these images would only distract, confuse, and create further barriers between the participant and the experience of the moment (and of the self). It is my intention to create and enter the vast sacred space where silence is king and allows for a more rich experience for both myself and ultimately all that stand before these meditations in paint.
I paint with oil color on canvas, conservation rag board, or wood. I begin with a few chosen colors depending on my mood and work very thin washes in predominantly vertical brushstrokes. These brushstrokes are typically very long and echo the rhythm of my breath. The blurring of color allows form to reveal itself. My goal is to give life to a work by infusing it with breath. It is also my intention not to overwork an area to the point where the path taken is hidden but that the viewer in a similar fashion in which the work was created can trace it.
In painting, my aim is to promote mindfulness. Practicing the act of being mindful and implementing it in all other areas of one’s life is an extremely important exercise in staying connected to the source. This is a skill that when exercised on an individual level can contribute to a more peaceful and unified existence on a universal level.