Non-Sensory Perception of Form

Three-dimensional, physical objects have form, music also has form, even an emotion has form in a certain sense. Form is a very important part of my work. One could almost say that the subject matter of my paintings is form itself, an attempt to capture the essence of something as it exists in a painter's mind. I agree with Kandinsky, who wrote that form is the outward expression of an inner meaning.

I paint with a wide brush and a lot of water. Most of my paintings begin with a thin wash of color. The colors of paint are first mixed and then applied one on top of another, red on top of blue, blue on top of red, sometimes yellow over everything. I turn the painting several times as I work, allowing the color to run. As I layer thin washes, I look into the painting as if it were a sheet of glass. This lets me see where the piece started and where it's going.

I find it good to work on a painting at different times of the day and in different seasons. I need to spend time with the work; this lets me notice small changes in color. I have found that the smallest variations of a hue can lead to significant changes in the piece. In this way, painting is sort of like tuning a violin. When the note sounds just right you know it. The painting begins to hum.