The Integrity of the Painted Surface

Paper Cup with Seam, 2012
Oil on Canvas Mounted on Panel, 22" x 24"

In the last couple of years, I find myself working with thinner and thinner layers of paint, thus getting away from the effects of thick layers and impasto, even in the highlighted areas.

My reasoning for this change is to eliminate any textural, sculptural or three-dimensional effect on a two-dimensional picture plane.

I am not a sculptor, but consider myself a "pure painter".

It seems that the consensus in the Pacific Northwest, where I live, many of the painters I have talked to feel the thicker the paint buildup on a flat surface the more expressive, the more painterly.

I have to disagree. The medium of paint, when painting directly from nature (i.e., to express representation or realism), should convey or express three-dimensional reality in two dimensions in order to maintain the integrity of the two-dimensional picture plane.

The above work I finished last week, I hope, illustrates my point.

The Relationship between Artist and Society

Green Plastic Bottle, 2006
Oil on Canvas Mounted On Panel, 14" x 24"

Art must be created within the context of community or society at large.

Art forms evolve by the artist interacting and communicating with other artists and individual members within the society in which they are participants.

Art forms also evolve through the artist’s perceptions of the human condition of a society in a particular historical time and place.

Therefore, there is a symbiotic and an essential relationship between artist and society.

Size Matters

Red Tin, 2005

Oil on on Canvas Mounted on Panel, 12" x 10"

Detergent Bottle  II, 2007

Oil on Canvas Mounted on Panel, 22" x 24"

Above are two examples of the various sizes of my work.

I tend to work small (the largest, 22" x 24,the smallest 12 x 10"), The reason for the small sizes of my work is: 1) limited studio space, 2) the intimacy of the painting itself.

Intimacy is one of the most important elements of my work.

To paint still life subjects on large canvases would be like working in a field, which is more appropriate for abstract expressionist styles, such as, Mark Rothko and his color field paintings. The viewer looking at a large work, I feel, would get lost in the qualities of surface, sacrificing intimacy between painting (subject matter) and the viewer and the potential for mystical experiences of the utilitarian objects I employ in my still life paintings.

I want the viewer to have a religious experience when viewing my paintings, to reflect on and to see these plastic containers that are taken for granted, as sacred objects.

The Importance of Edges in a Painting

Orange Cap & Plastic Cup Under Natural Light, 2009
Oil on Canvas Mounted on Panel, 16" x 18"


The issue of edges in my work, over the years, has become an important issue to me to the point of obsession. The edgework in my paintings between object and space tend to be soft and diffuse. Negative and positive space (object, background and foreground) are blended into each other to render a misty, fog-like effect.

Trees, houses, city streets, skyscrapers, parked cars, fences, roads disappearing into mist have always fascinated me with a sense of mystery, of the mystical.

I try to capture these mysterious and mystical qualities in my still life paintings. I want the viewer to perceive and understand that these plastic, recyclable containers can be seen and sensed in many other contexts besides their original intended purpose.

I want to give divine status to my subject matter, these modern, utilitarian objects that express our age.