STATEMENT

I have always had a passion for the natural world.  I love wilderness, the sights, the sounds, the palpable feeling of the light. It is that feeling of wonderment, senses wide open, that I seek to express in my paintings.  

In the wilderness, I do a lot of wandering, meandering, allowing myself to be led by unknown forces to amazing discoveries.  The same thing happens when I am in my studio painting. That is not to say I meanderingly paint without plan.  I have a plan (sort of), but I am open to what may happen; there always seems to be another force at work besides my own.

Living in an age that has apparently lost respect for the power and magnificence of nature, I try in my paintings to bring back to the modern consciousness a little of that ancient  impassioned respect.   People tell me that there is always "so much energy" going on in my paintings.   It is true that I see the natural world in an active rather than a passive way.  I see everything interacting with everything else in such a way that it all points  to a larger harmony, a cosmic dance.  If I can successfully take hold of one little moment, one little piece of that immense complexity and paint it I am happy.

I like to work on that edge between the real and the abstract. I have been most influenced by Van Gogh and Cezanne, by the Fauves, the Impressionists. They have taught me to seek the colorful and meaningful in the twistings and turnings of the natural world as I see it through observation;  to express it with the imagination that sees beyond, through and  across the senses.

Currently, I am working in acrylic, loving the textures and built-up sculptural qualities I can achieve with the use of gels.

Thank you for your interest in my work.  Perhaps we will meet on the trail sometime!

                                                                                                                                                                                  .......................Acacia