Artist’s Statement

For many of us, “art” has a way of bringing out some of what may be hidden and laying it out through some medium suitable for the particular work. For some, this may be some abstract work providing a mere hint for what an artist may be feeling, For others, these may take a more realistic presentation in order to see if an object may be captured in an empirically sense. Whatever the motivation, art is a way of connecting the dots within and putting it on paper in order to present certain aspects of the world in which we live.

For me, art has been a way to communicate thought and ideas in such a way to touch the inner core of man. In all of my work, there is a hint of a message, or there may be some small detail presented and expressed as an area of emphasis. In any event, I don’t think I would be satisfied with a simple illustration of something, but would search for ways to lend the subject matter to tell a story, allowing the viewer to look a little harder.

In this web page, I have placed an emphasis on portraits largely because portraits are intriguing for me; a face is just not another face and seems to have its own layout and expression. As a younger man, when speaking on the phone in a hospital setting, I would imagine what a person on the other end would look like. Additionally, I often find myself imagining what the person inside is like based on the face I see. One thing for sure, when speaking to a person for the first time, I will generally listen to a person to gain some clarity before engaging in conversation.

Within this collection of portraits, I have compiled a list individuals that have faced various and unique challenges in their lives, while at the same time have overcome and made major contributions. In the case of Amelia Earhart, she was recognized as one enjoying the experience of flight and found herself in a cockpit that set flight around the world, however, her flight ended in mystery and wonder. Uncommon and profound temperance are realized in the artist community as Syd Solomon gave art shape and temperance as he provided the incentive for the use of acrylic as opposed to oils through more abstract venues. His love and engagement in impromptu messages from his more visceral self provided an emergence to push abstract art in new and disentangled directions. Up to this point, many of the portraits were an effort to seed an exhibit at Tusculum University in East Tennessee, however in the future I hope to return to painting Italian and Israeli landscapes, as well as setting a course for the abstract.