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My new body of abstract paintings is based
on "reflections in the harbor." Painted "plein-air"
from
the balmy shores of Santa Barbara and from the coastal waters known
as the "Bay of Poets" in
Cinque Terre, Italy, I develop a painterly dialogue with the water
and discover forms and structures
too complex and varied to be invented out of my head. A personal language
of marks, shifting colors,
forms and gestures are created to articulate the many natures of water;
a mirror changing with the
color of its subject reflecting the nature of its place, becoming
dangerous, beautiful, sharp, mournful,
raging, angry, red, yellow, green, black, blue, cold and warm. Water
carries away and sets down, fills
and empties, races through or is still. As da Vinci observed, "In
time and with water, everything changes."
All these complexities are manifest in the visceral twists and curves
and unrestrained palette found in
my work.
The most difficult part is painting on the spot; taking in the imagery
of the shifting waters and glancing
back to an empty canvas. It presses my patience to stay objective
to the painting in the process of
being constructed while looking at the subject which is complete and
most often in motion. John
Berger, art critic, lamented while describing his own attempts at
painting a landscape, "It sounds very
easy: it is as easy as walking on water."
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