After moving from Houston, Texas to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1991, I felt adrift. In Houston, where I owned a business I was busy, busy, busy. Though I still owned that business (started in 1984 - sold in 2008), I was no longer involved in the day-to-day activity and didn't know what to do with myself. The following year "Pasatiempo" ran an article about Roberta Harris, an artist who had moved to Santa Fe from Houston and was teaching painting classes. That class was the beginning of my journey to becoming an artist.There were many dips and dives along the road. I took classes from various artists in Santa Fe, painting images of people and a few landscapes; though I didn't have any strong motivation toward a particular style. I spent a lot of time in my head, rather than my heart, trying to determine a "voice" for my work. One of my most important mentors, Alex Shundi, helped me move the images toward abstraction.
That was many years ago. When I first started painting, I'd look at accomplished artists' work and think - "I wish I knew how to be so certain of what to do next" - as if those artists had all the answers. I've since learned that doing the art is much like life - a series of choices. I guess I wanted there to be one answer - that appealed to my left brain which is a bit of an organization junky. But my right brain embraced the idea that there are many choices when you're doing your artwork and one isn't necessarily more correct than the other.
My overall goal is to paint something that is vibrant, joyful and full of life. To arrive at that point, my paintings will evolve from the series of choices that I make. Those choices are based on how I feel that day, my perceptions and the knowledge that I have accumulated to that point in time, and on and on.
However, no matter which choice I make, what color I apply, how I choose to apply it, there is always the opportunity to choose differently and still complete the painting. For me, leaving the idea that the accomplished artist always makes the "correct" choice and embracing the idea that the choice I make at that particular moment in time is the "correct" one, moving on to the next choice and the next allows a freedom that spreads across the canvas into a completed painting. In that freedom, I'm able to spend time interacting with the painting, allowing it to become an individual world infused with my love and joy during its creation. When I'm able to paint in that "feeling" mode, I'm much happier and more productive.
