About the Art

 

Portraits

 

The oil portraits are an effort to express the dignity, vitality and style of the subject. Usually the portraits develop from a large set of photographs and color studies I make of the “sitter” and setting. For examples, the portrait of Dylan became a ‘day in the life’ as ideas and observations developed. The setting for the Butterworth Brothers: the south shore of Cat Island, in proximity to a trophy winning catch by the middle son. In the portrait Lynn and John Olson, I used a contrast of deep tones and rich textures to help convey a certain confidence and maturity in the subjects. Oil or drawing portraits are usually arranged by commission directly from me or representative agent. (see Portrait Process in Brief)

 

Landscapes

 

In viewing the landscape what is important to me as an artist is the moment it comes alive. The object of painting is not only to capture certain facts, but to bring some presence forward, it may be the brief mood of a day or the history or narrative of place on a grander scale. Usually the finished landscapes develop in the studio from notes and drawings made in situ. To give one some idea of the way things might go (with some of the more ambitious projects): Delta Wending was commissioned for a private residence as “a portrait of Mississippi” which became in the evolution of the idea an imaginary narrative vista, as if one were gazing west from Loews Bluff over the Mississippi Delta below.