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The Ocean Series is a Remodernist response to the color-field paintings of Mark Rothko. These colorful, richly detailed, and evocative images appeal to serious art lovers, those who meditate, and ocean lovers as well. Originals, prints, a calendar, and affordable signed posters can be purchased on line.
The central theme in my painting is the search for stillness, the sort
of profound and lucid calm that is the result of meditation or
contemplation; another main theme is the relationship between humans,
the ocean, and the atmosphere. The intent of my work is to create an
ambiance where the spiritual dimension of this relationship can be
experienced.
I've been working on The Ocean Series for more than a quarter of a century.
I guess you could say that this conflation of a traditional marine
sunset with a color-field painting, something that originally crossed
my mind sometime back in 1978, has turned out to be a fairly fertile
idea for me. Call it a Remodernist approach to the color-field
tradition if you like, but I'm not trying to deconstruct anything, fit
into any category, or prove any theories. The ocean, with its infinite
variety and constant flux, is a motif that never ceases to fascinate
me; and to say that this image of the far horizon and the dying
sunlight has broad metaphoric powers would be to belabor the obvious.
My two greatest influences as a painter have been Mark Rothko and
Claude Monet; in a way, my paintings are only a kind of simple-minded
formal synthesis of the two. At least, I hope they're that good.
Once in a while a commercial gallery will invite me to do an exhibition.
My first solo was at Sarah Rentschler Gallery, NYC, in 1980. The most
recent one (as of this writing) was January 2003 at Sekanina
Contemporary Art Gallery in Ferrara, Italy. I had a good show at Norro
Gruppen Konstgallerie, Stockholm, Sweden, in 1991. In between there
were about a dozen others, spread out over the past 20 years; but
seldom in the same place twice...
Its been a lonely path.
I'm nomadic, never stay in one place for more than a year or two; don't
have any possessions except for what I can carry on the iron birds. So
far I've lived in 7 of the USA States and 6 other countries. I prefer
warm places, but anywhere with a left coast will do - for a while. Of
course I always have to be near the motif. Yet I don't like painting
outdoors. I often work in buildings that have been, for one reason or
another, abandoned. I can't seem to paint effectively for more than
about 4 hours a day. The rest of the time I mostly spend walking or
sitting on the beach, staring at the ocean. I meditate. I surf when I
can. I take part-time work when its available; have had quite a variety
of dead-end, no-brainer jobs, some of which I liked. I've got an MD
degree from the University of Texas that I've chosen to ignore. You
might also say that I have the equivalent of a PhD in "coping".
Looking at a work of art affects us in a positive, a negative, or (rarely) a neutral way.
This is obvious: Look at the image, not just a glance, spend some time
at it. Notice how you feel. My intention in making them was to create a
meditative ambience: a profound and lucid calm. Enter the illusion. You
are the figure that inhabits this eternal place. Notice how you feel.
Some viewers have found them evocative.
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