Even at a very young age, I can remember painting birds and flowers to express a childhood crush. Through years of instruction and experience I’ve developed the proper techniques to sharpen my skills as a painter.
I was trained to see composition. To draw and paint the human face and figure. To see the beauty of nature and paint it. From urban landscapes to O’Keefe like florals, I’ve painted it.
Yet, there was always a great desire to express my most inner thoughts and emotions. So I began looking at the works of De Kooning, Pollock, Rothko and other mid century abstract painters. To me they were doing what I’ve been “feeling”. In their works I saw passion, anger, wonder, questions trying to be answered. I saw joy and pain flowing, intertwined and living on top of each other. This is what I wanted to do.
But how was I going to approach this without mimicking the works of others? After sitting in front of a blank canvas for hours, without any sense of progress, I decided to go and get a coffee. It was the beginning of summer in Toronto (one of my favourite times of the year in that city). Walking with coffee in hand, I pass a small park on Queen Street East. I hear a dog bark, I look over and in doing so I see two young children playing. I watched the children as they played – they were carefree and enjoying themselves in the moment. It was then that I had found my approach. Approach the painting like a child approaches life – untainted by other thoughts or lessons – to be in the moment.
Through experimenting with different mediums and techniques, I have come up with the basic formula and “look” for my paintings. With only an idea of an image, the paintings “paint” themselves. Allowing myself to focus on the thoughts and emotions during that moment of inspiration.
Coming up with titles for my paintings is never an easy task. How do you title a moment in life? The titles are not representational nor are they descriptive of the image. They are born of words or phrases spoken during the moment of inspiration and sometimes of my thoughts and emotions during the painting process.
When you look at my paintings, approach them like you would a conversation. Ask the questions, try and find common ground. For “common ground” is your way of connecting to the painting and a piece of me. And PLEASE don’t look at the title for the answer; because what you see is a moment of inspiration that lit an emotion or thought that needed to be expressed.
Koi-stract series
