Sometimes it's hard for me to be objective about my work, what classification it fits into, especially since I have never taken art theory or any such training.  I paint what I like, what the muse brings . . . that which touches me.  Sometimes I paint a subject to gain the skills it can bring me.  Even so, I put my soul into each work - how could I do otherwise?  I did not become aware of the correct classification of my paintings until a site we linked to listed my works as Expressionistic.  I had to look it up.  Apparently expressionism came into vogue during the early part of the 20th century.  It emphasizes subjective expression of the artist's inner experiences.  This is true for me in my art as well as my writing.

There is a purity in the animal kingdom. In computer terms it's called WYSIWYG - what you see is what you get. It's one of the reasons I love animals. They are who they are. Programmed by genetics and that which is passed down one generation to the next, they are life without malice, without conniving. I also see them as beings with consciousness. While some say it is anthropomorphic to think my cat loves me, I do not. To me they are beings like us, only better. We, humans, like to think we are above the animal kingdom. I disagree. There is much we can learn from them and their acceptance of what is. When I paint animals I try to capture the looks - the consciousness in their eyes. I try to reflect the soul within. I strive to honor and respect them.

Raised in a rural setting I grew up in the trees.  I swam in a salt water slough that ran past my parents' pastureland.  Though my parents didn't have much money, they provided all I needed to develop an appreciation for the natural beauty on this planet.  I am part of the land, the trees and all that is of the earth.  When painting landscapes I endeavor to capture the essence of the natural. I feel the energy.  To me there is no such thing as insignificant being, be it animal, plant, stone, the water we drink or the air that we breathe.

When I was nine-years-old I was asked if I was Native American.  It was the cheekbones that gave me away.  My dad thought we were.  It seemed our grandmother several generations back was named Gooselberry.  While my ancestry is largely northern European, I am a genetic mutt.  The idea of being Native American gave me great pride.  Later we learned that Gooselberry was an aunt by marriage, not a grandmother.  I was very disappointed.

Over the years I began exploring various cultures, including their spirituality.  I learned to value Native American spirituality, specifically the way they honored the land, the animals, all living beings, all things - the spirit world.  Once I came to believe in the possibility of reincarnation I accepted I might have been Native American during other lifetimes.

While learning to paint I became inspired by the images and beings I saw with my mind's eye.  Some of these beings appeared to be Native American.  I began to paint them.  If we are to survive as a species, if all other life is to survive, we must learn to respect all that is within, on and around the earth.  We must step up to the Native American way of honoring All-That-Is.

I am especially drawn to paint portraits - exact likeness.  At present I'm working on developing that skill.  I consider some of my animal paintings portraits as well, though I assign them to the animal category.  When I paint portraits I try to connect with who the individual is.  If that person is deceased, I reach out to their spirit, so I can incorporate that spirit into my painting.  I've painted three portraits in that manner: my friend Tosca, Otto and my sister Anita.  If I knew the person in life, painting their portrait helps me work through the loss.  I talk to them.  I hear their words.  It is an intimate experience.

As we think of our lives, it is often not the events we recall or movies of events, but snapshots burned into our memory, photos that capture the essence of moments in time.  One of the functions of creativity is to show forth the most unusual of these moments, be they tangible or illusive.  The wise ones tell us that we are limited only by our imaginations.  Art accentuates this process.  For me, sometimes images come together to tell an unusual, perhaps intimate story of the world as I see it, or as I fancy it to be.

I grew up on the West Coast of the U.S.  I loved to play at the beach, sculpt sand persons, explore the rocks, wade in tidal pools, feel the waves and sand slip between my toes.  I love the ocean.  My goal when painting it is to capture the beauty, the peace that it brings me, even on a stormy day.  Much of my life has been stormy.  I am now at one with the storm.

There is a debate over whether or not we are spiritual beings having a physical experience or physical beings having a spiritual experience.  I believe in the former.  When we are young we identify with the body.  We look in the mirror and think we see ourselves.  What we see is the house.  The contents are hidden.  That which is hidden is our spirit.  That spirit/soul is the essence of who we are.

From within, from that soul, beauty and creativity are born.  My paintings, my writings originate there.  Sometimes my works are inspired by others.  Sometimes they are inspired by nature.  Most often it comes from my very soul - my spirit - that which I am.  Usually the inspirations are nebulous in origin.  Whatever the source, the creation comes through the spirit.  In essence all the paintings are spiritual.  For a painting to receive a spiritual designation, means it steps into a higher realm.  It touches on All-That-Is.  Some call that God.  Some call it the One.  There are many names for it - but it is one and the same.  It is origin, infinity, Zen.

7-20-08: The Sword of Ruth II

I painted in lightning striking the sword.  It looked contrived, not natural, so I painted over the lightning.  In the process of painting over it I darkened the sky using the same colors as before and a #10 flat bristle brush.  Then using variations of white mixed with blue and blue violet I began making the sword lighter.  It would appear that to make the sword look realistic I will need a bunch of layers.  For the sword I used a #2 and #4 flat synthetic brush and a #1 round synthetic.  Halfway through tonight's session I nearly painted over the whole thing, but decided to hold off.

7-19-08: The Sword of Ruth II

Using charcoal, I sketched in a couple of faces, thinking to paint them in with the ghosting effect, but I realized that wasn't what I wanted, so I erased them.

7-13-08: The Sword of Ruth II

I finished sketching the sword, then underpainted it with Payne's grey and ultramarine blue.  Next I sketched in two roses and four leaves.  To underpaint the roses I used a combination of ultramarine blue, hooker's green and white, adding a little Payne's grey to the darkest areas of the roses.  My white is always gesso because it helps opaque these transparent paints, so you don't need as many layers to get coverage.  I added more white to the lighter areas.  I underpainted the leaves with a combination of hooker's green and diox. purple.

7-08-08: The Sword of Ruth II

Using the same colors as in the sky and a #10 bristle brush and horizontal strokes I painted the foreground, getting darker as I came forward to the bottom of the canvas.  Taking a toothbrush, I splattered the dirt area with dark thin paint and then wiped some of it off.  Since the dirt hadn't been dry long, that wiped some of the splatters off, leaving light spots, like it was pebbles.  Then I began sketching the sword.  At this point the composition is still iffy.  I'm basically trying things out and painting over what I don't like.

7-07-08: The Sword of Ruth II

I finally figured out what to do with the some of the background and the sky.  To accomplish what I wanted, I used a #6 and #10 bristle brushes and a flat #8 synthetic brush.  Starting with the #10, I scumbled varying combinations of ultramarine blue, diox. purple, cad. red medium, alizarin crimson, cad. yellow and white on to the canvas.  After that, I used the number #6 bristle brush to create the distant hills.  There I used ultramarine blue, a touch of diox. purple and a little burnt sienna and white for the most distant hills.  For the next layer of hills coming forward, I darkened it.  With a light mixture of white and yellow I used the #8 flat synthetic brush to highlight the most distant hills.  I added orange to the mix and highlighted the closer hills.  After that I added a little hooker's green to that mixture and created distant trees and then highlighted them with yellow green.

6-22-08: The Sword of Ruth II

What started out to be experimenting with creating spectacular clouds, ended with me basically covering over the whole thing.  The whole canvas is now a pinkish, peachish white.  I can still see the distant mountains, slightly.  I had to stop to let it dry.  Although there was nothing wrong with what I painted yesterday, it just wasn't right somehow for the picture I want to paint.  Maybe this will work.

6-21-08: The Sword of Ruth II

When starting a painting, it's hard to know how much preparatory work to count as time spent on the painting.  I've actually spent probably 3-4 hours during the last week looking for the right reference material for this painting.  So technically that should be counted as time on the painting.  But as a rule of thumb I reflect only about an hour for each painting for that kind of preparatory work.

Yesterday I rewatched Jerry Yarnell's lessons for his painting "Beauty and the Beast" to remind myself how to do the desert and the big sky with clouds and lightening.  I really recommend his lessons.  He has been doing this for years and can answer any questions a person might have on how to do things.  He has a staff that deals with specific questions and sells supplies and lessons on his web site.  He's a gem of an instructor.  You can find a link to his website in on our links page under Fine Arts.

Tonight I did a paint-along-with-Jerry as I underpainted my current painting.  The brushes I used were Jerry's 2 inch hake brush for applying the white gesso and for blending in the background sky colors.  I used a #10 bright bristle brush to apply the background colors for the dirt and a # 6 bright bristle brush for adding the distant mountains.  The colors I used were burnt sienna, ultra marine blue, diox. purple, white gesso, cad. yellow light and Payne's grey.  I learned from Jerry, while rewatching the tape, that one can create yellow ocre with cad yellow light and burnt sienna.

The main thing to remember in doing all this is to make sure the edges of the painted objects, scenery etc. are soft - don't leave ridges.  Ridges can be a bear to paint over.  If accidently you do leave hard edges, however, don't despair.  Sandpaper can take them off with a lot of work - but it will also remove the stuff around the area that you might not want to lose.  I've done that a number of times.