"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. Discovering and analyzing each rock brings joy to my eyes as I present its detailed imagery on canvas.

Many rock hunt experiences paved the way for this lifelong interest. Gravel-strewn pathways, roadside trenches, my own backyard, and later, coastal and mountainous areas were key places to look for rocks. My earliest rock hunts 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 then 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. Every rock so different; every rock with its own story to tell.

Another Upstate New York 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 obviously had quite a story to tell! Its unusual surface markings made me wonder how shell-covered creatures once very much alive could become trapped forever on this remnant of another place and time. One could only imagine how that fossil came to be. Happily the fossil found a home in my junior high school's science display. And equally positive, that fossil made me think about each rock's possible journey--where a rock came from, how it arrived at its current location, and why it looked the way it did.

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. It is diffcult to envision the powerful forces natural and otherwise needed to etch delicately intertwined patterns onto stone surfaces. Presenting a detailed account of each 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. However, a painting's subject matter may sometimes be viewed as an abstract composition when no references to the subject's surrounding area are 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 an intriguing 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 present a subject's challenging contents.

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