Take a vivid imagination some rampant creativity, add some fantasy, sprinkle with lots of color and a dash of humor, shake liberally. This might be one way to describe what happens in my work and how I approach the making of art in general. The artists I most admired as a student definitely influenced the work I make today. I was drawn like a fly to honey to the work of DeForest, Arneson, Wiley, Neri and others (Hairy Who) teaching in and near Sacramento at that time. U.C.Davis was a magical place when I was a student, and the freedom that was given to me to explore my potential has paid dividends over the years. It also made me a little undisciplined, in that my work often spans several different media. My real start as an artist was in ceramics, which is what drew me to Davis in the first place. My current work and the way I work in series, definitely is influenced by that early training. I have replaced clay with wood when I choose to make objects, but the spirit of the work remains constant. I still believe in the magic of a work of art and the possibility of making a beautiful well-crafted object even when the subject matter is a little comical or twisted.
My work for this exhibit is comprised of pieces from several different series of work. The landscape pieces are a continuation of the series of Imaginary Landscapes made from vivid memories of both my travels and my somewhat idyllic childhood in Colorado. The Aspen trees that often appear in these paintings are from my backyard as a child while the Cypress trees come from my year living in Italy. I am able through this work to mix up past and present into environments that feel like home to me and create a wonderful vehicle for color.
The figurative pieces reference the economic collapse and the greed and anguish it has created. I filter my concerns through Saint Pablo and soften the reality with a bit of humor. Animals often appear in my work as metaphorical representations of the human condition. The bear and the bull are representations of our flawed economic system. These are probably the most overtly political pieces I have ever made.
The collages are an extension of work I have done for many years. Recently I recognized that my desk calendars were full of drawings that I was unwilling to part with so I started mounting them on canvas and adding collage elements and paint to complete them. Another extension of this series began by using maps of places I have lived or traveled to as the starting point for other collage imagery. Although these appear very different from my paintings the same spirit and humor permeates the work.