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.

8-26-08: Spirit of the Night

Tonight I added dimension to the owl's face, added his iris, shaded the left feathers on the inside of his left wing and wiped out his body feathers.  No matter how I tried to shape them, they didn't look right.

8-24-08: Spirit of the Night

Using a #1 bristlette round I added more light yellow to the moon.  I also tried a lt. brown/black to shade the craters of the moon.  To the upper sky area around the halo of the moon I feathered in alizarin crimson mixed with a touch of white.  Then I began working on shading the large feathers on the right side of the painting.

8-23-08: Spirit of the Night

I painted the moon in more of a light yellow color and worked more on the halo.  After that, I worked on the owl's legs, feet and tail feathers.  I'm not really sure at this point what the right brushes are to use.  Mostly I used small ones - both bristle and synthetic - rounds.

8-22-08: Spirit of the Night

I concentrated on the moon, trying this thing and that to try to get it rounder, to try to get the halo around it to show up properly.  I didn't have good reference material so that made it more difficult.

8-21-08: Spirit of the Night

Using black, created from diox. purple, cad. yellow medium and black gesso, I took a #2 round synthetic brush and outlined the edges of the feathers.  I will later cover most of the outline.  This gives definition to the edges.  I reshaped some of the feathers and began highlighting the rest of them.

8-19-08: Spirit of the Night

I worked mostly on the body feathers, trying to curve them around, better conforming them to the shape of the body, and making them the right height and width.  They need to be shorter the further down the body they go, and I didn't accomplish that this time.  I also reshaped the tail feathers a little.  The main beneficial discovery was regarding the brush for the feathers.  The best one at this point seems to be a # 1 round bristle brush.

I also added more layers of yellow/white to the eyes, as well as reshaping them a bit.  At this point they are too yellow.  I need to add some tan, I think.

8-18-08: Spirit of the Night

I used a variety of brushes this time, bristle, flat synthetic sable, etc. as I worked on shaping and shading the feathers.  I painted with various mixtures of ultramarine blue, diox. purple, white gesso and mars black.  Mostly the feathers still look blurry.  I want them to be more photo realistic.

8-16-08: Spirit of the Night

I did more of what I did last night, highlighting the sky with the same colors, brightening them a bit.  I added the moon.

8-15-08: Spirit of the Night

Using a #10 bristle brush, I scumbled various combinations of alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue and touches of white gesso onto the sky.

8-13-08: Spirit of the Night

I added white gesso to the mixture I had before and began adding the second layer to the feathers.

8-12-08: Spirit of the Night

I underpainted the owl using a #2 and a #8 flat synthetic sable, and a #1 round bristlette sable.  For the colors, I combined ultramarine blue, diox. purple and white gesso.  I tried adding a little Payne's grey for the darkest shading, but it made the paint look muddy.  For the long feathers I used long straight strokes.  For the little feathers I used short dabby strokes.

8-11-08: Spirit of the Night

Today's session consisted of composition, planning and drawing in the owl with a white charcoal pencil.

8-10-08: Spirit of the Night

Using Jerry Yarnell's hake brush, I blended ultramarine blue and a left over turquoisey color from the last painting in the upper left and at an angle across the canvas.  In the lower right I blended red and alizarin crimson at an angle across the canvas.  To that I added a little diox. purple and white gesso.  Then I blended it and left it to dry.

Using a # 12 bristle brush and circular movements I scumbled ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, diox. purple and a marginal amount of white gesso in varying combinations over the canvas.  I'm not sure if covering the canvas with black gesso to start was an asset or a liability.

8-9-08: Spirit of the Night

Using a 2 inch foam-slab brush I covered canvas with a water base, then black gesso and a bit of ultramarine blue.