“Painting is the only job I have ever had and the only one I can ever imagine doing. It makes me complete. It’s always thrilling to experience the moment a painting takes on a life of its own. One instant there is an amalgamation of colored shapes on the canvas and then boom, with the addition of a single stroke it’s transformed into a lifelike entity.
I feel I’ve been blessed with a special gift and it’s incredibly satisfying to know that I can use my talent to bring joy into the lives of others. I didn’t have an easy childhood. I had a terrible speech impediment and turned to painting and sketching for comfort. I could escape from the chaos surrounding me simply by painting. Now, years later, my viewers tell me they have the same experience; they are comforted by my quite tranquil surrounds and they can escape into my romantic world of mystery and magic.
My style is referred to as Romantic Realism, and to me this means telling stories through pictures. There is little room for error in realism and it is important to concentrate on detail, although it may be tedious work. In Windy Side, for example, I treat the viewer to a side view of a beautiful clapboard house. But look closer inside an open window and you’ll see on a wall a wood carving; peer inside the enclosed porch and you’ll see a model of a sailing ship. Once you begin noticing these details, it’s only a matter of time before you begin to imagine who might live there and wonder about their story.