I was raised in Chicago, at the edge of a vast inland sea. At the heart of a busy and modern metropolis lies Lake Michigan – whose very nature is an endless lesson in expansiveness, where water and sky tease us in an endless display of endlessness…
How does one portray the expansive quality of reality? The horizon line, the convergence of water and air, effortlessly merges blue upon blue upon blue upon blue upon blue. The constantly morphing nature of endless lake and sky, hypnotic, leading me into deeper perceptions of reality, of the nature of space, of the nature of seeing. Opening up to the vastness of water and sky, line, color and shape appear. I don’t replicate what I see – perfection needs no imitation. I paint my perception - such deep stillness and beauty. My paintings capture patterns and shapes in visual language, a language of pure joy arising from awareness. Honoring the mysteries contained in such vastness, there are no answers; instead I offer a way of seeing the world, for those who are looking. My paintings are an invitation to stop and see. From a deeply joyful perspective. A meditation on perception and the vastness of human consciousness.
I have been observing light, color and the nature of space my whole life. I have had many guides, starting with my life long love affair with the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, perched alluringly next to that great lake. From El Greco to the Impressionists, Picasso, Matisse, Rothko and Pollack. Childhood friends… Studying the History of Art in college, I searched for lessons everywhere, from Hudson River School landscapes, to a deep foray into Chinese and Japanese painting. As an adult I have collected landscape photography, moving relentlessly into the compositions of Japanese masters Hiroshi Sugimoto and Toshio Shibata. I am fascinated by space creation on the other side of the Pacific, where imagination lives alongside the freedom of simplicity.
Reflections on landscape can be so simple, so earnest. On the other hand, the vanishing point, where earth meets sky, is largely unknowable. I have spent years trying to crack the code of my own existence, strengthening the pillars of character while softening to the mysteries of life. My paintings document a life of seeing and being, on the edge of lake and sky.