"I don't know a rock until I paint it"

The aesthetic qualities of rocks have fascinated me as long as I can recall. From the start, there was always a good reason to slow down and take a close look at rock materials, to find and collect them, to capture their incredibly stunning features through the lens of my camera.

There were many childhood rock hunt experiences that paved the way for this lifelong interest. My earliest and frequent rock hunt events began in Orange County, Upstate New York, especially during spring thaw when bits of rock poked through the softening top soil. "Leave no stone unturned" called out to me, urging me to locate and painstakingly extract rock after rock after rock from their earthen hideaways. Most times I was never quite sure what I would find as I excitedly brushed away the remaining soil clinging to each new discovery. Based on appearance and markings, every rock that I retrieved had its own story to tell.

Another Upstate adventure involved an encounter with a fossil as I sifted through mounds of soil left over from a nearby house repair. That piled up earth was a perfect setting for dislodging a rather large dirt-covered rock which to my surprise revealed tiny seashells etched into its surface. This mysterious rock made me wonder how shell-covered creatures once very much alive could become entrapped forever on this remnant of another place and time. One could only begin to imagine how that fossil came to be. Happily the fossil found a permanent home in my junior high school's science display. For the one who found the fossil, never again could I casually look at a rock without thinking about where it came from, where it has been, where it may go.

The Formations paintings highlight various textures and design elements found on California rock surfaces. Often resembling "hidden landscapes", each rock's ancient surface markings reflect a myriad of lace-like, exquisite design possibilities. One can only imagine the powerful forces natural and otherwise needed to etch delicately intertwined patterns onto stone surfaces. Experiencing this ongoing "discovery process" brings joy to my eyes each time I portray a rock's incomparable imagery on canvas.

Presenting a detailed account of a subject's essence remains a clear objective of my painting style and work. In their many forms, details make things come alive and let you see beyond the obvious. Each painting involves a subtle balance between realism and abstraction. Realism takes a dominant role in my work through an investment of detail while abstraction comes into play if no specific reference to the surrounding area is shown.

Discovery, analysis, and interpretation lead me to select each painting's subject matter. My photographs of rock segments provide a starting point for gathering information. Studying details in each photograph brings me to "the heart of the matter" as I enter a world of lines and shapes embedded within elaborate configurations. After selecting a patterned segment, the subject matter is ready to come alive on canvas using multi-layered brushwork. No doubt a new adventure awaits as I proceed to present a subject's challenging contents.

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