In front of me, I see three paintings, one is on my easel, and two are resting on the floor, awaiting further work. These three paintings are very different from one another, but I created each of them because I wanted to express the emotions and thoughts that I had when I first saw the scenes in life. On the canvases, with my brushes and paints, I have sought to perform for my audience, i.e., for those who will eventually see my paintings. I have sought to bring others into my world of seeing.
Parallel Lives 1 - Powell’s Books - Oregon
In one painting, I have created a scene – one that I stumbled across and saved in photos taken surreptitiously over my shoulder – at Powell’s Books in Portland, OR. A man and a young woman sit parallel to one another. They sit next to a glass window of the bookstore’s coffee shop, and unacknowledged by them, a bus drives by and a lovely fall day unfolds. Inside, the two figures are preoccupied by their own lives. The young woman, caught in the afternoon sunlight, contemplates her phone. The man may be contemplating her or he might be thinking about the life that has brought him to this particular spot. Is he an immigrant, is he unemployed, is he seeking a few moments of quiet from his job – these are the questions that surround him. How is it, that neither one of these people holds a book? What will they do when they leave? The bus in the painting is important because it conveys the transitory nature of their existences and of our world order. Paralle Lives - 1
Parallel Lives 2 - Vail, CO
On my easel is a large painting of crows caught in late fall, snatching seeds that have fallen to the ground under our bird feeder. Some of the crows all but touch each other, as they swirl from one edible delight to another. One lone crow sits away from the others, apparently contemplating other possibilities. These crows are actors on the stage in front of me, parallel to me, apart from me. I can only guess at their lives. But, I understand their alive-ness, their movements, and the cold surrounding them. Parallel Lives - 2.
And, then, there’s the large landscape of early fall along the Colorado River in Moab. We arrived at our campsite in the late afternoon, amazed and stunned by the setting sun casting a beacon of light on the Butte before us. I pulled out my oil paints and created a small painting of the scene. I took many photos, which I have used as reference. What drew me to this scene was the majesty of the ancient rocks positioned next to the exuberant flow of the Colorado River beneath them.
Parallel Lives 3 - Moab, Utah
Ancient and current, then and now; the lovely fall foliage next to the dry, desert sandstone – parallel to one another; apart and together. This painting may or may not be called Parallel Lives - 3.
I hope that my paintings tell a story, enact a drama, and create an experience that plays upon the viewer’s imagination . . . upon your imagination!