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I just found out that I will not receive a grant that I applied for from the Idaho Commission on the Arts.  I was hoping to get the grant to help pay for the expenses of my upcoming show in July.

One of the good things that came out of the application process, though, was my artist’s statement.  I have never gotten more personal than this and I think it was worthwhile to spend time writing about why I make art.  During the process I painted this:

Wings, oil on canvas

Wings, oil on canvas

Artist’s Statement
Making art is an incredibly fulfilling experience for me.  As a child I was always drawn to the old masters of the Italian renaissance and paintings and sculpture.  I was fortunate enough to live in Europe for eight years and to see many of the great Renaissance works in person. I know these experiences had a life-changing effect on me.

The process of exploration through making art is something that I return to again and again.  My formal training helped my technique but only through continual practice have I truly found my voice.  My work comes in part from a desire to show the deep spirituality in everything.  It really is as simple as that.

Perhaps my images are personal, but my hope is that they reach viewers on a level that everyone can understand.  Themes that I find fascinating are solitude, peace, enlightenment, spirituality, meaning, and the inner life.My work reflects my deeply felt connection to other artists both living and past.  The images have many references of homage to Giotto, Caravaggio, and Piero della Francesco as well as profound and, to me, deeply moving debts of gratitude to Gaugin, Bonnard, Vuillard, Munch, Cezanne, Matisse, Klee, and Diebenkorn.  When painting, I immediately tap in to the continuum that these and all other artists share.  It is truly timeless.I also feel a strong and enduring bond to the best of my teachers: Wilbur Niewald at Yale, Michael Crespo  and Robert Hausey at Louisiana State University, Louis Finkelstein, Rosemary Beck, and Deborah Rosenthal at Queens College, Rick Paul at Purdue, and most especially Jean Pichotta and Frank Gross who helped immensely with their encouragement and support at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.Now as I near my fiftieth year, I work in the studio every day.  It is important to me to make art and to pursue a career in art, not only for myself but to serve as an example to my children and also to artists in the community.Each new painting signifies a new exploration, a new layer revealed, a new path on the journey, and a new connection to the infinite.