I've been asked many times, "Do you get creative blocks"? My response, is “no”. I may not have enough materials to produce all the ideas I have for art. For example, studio rent and taxes may be due. Oh and the babies need new shoes. All of a sudden, buying high dollar arches watercolor paper isn’t a priority.
Sometimes, I may be too emotionally and physically tired to work. I’m blessed with two precious children, but I must frankly say, “Small kids have more energy than I could have ever imagined”. Last year was wonderfully exuberate and painfully weighty. In 2008, my only sister, Shirley passed away. Sometimes the challenges of life bring me down. Yet, in the midst of my weariness, I find some way to express myself through my art.
Regardless of the circumstances, ideas abound. I believe there is no single correct pictorial solution. Unlike most painters who have a single style, I have a range of style and imagery through which I work. Jazz musicians, the southern landscape, female nudes, steaming coffee, and the black experience are depicted through expressionist, cubist, abstract, neo-impressionist styles. Openness and exploration rather than a dedication to a particular style best characterize these works. I use pictorial discernment which enables me to go from paintings with a lot of splash and spontaneity to images with a sense of organization and reason. Themes and variations on themes are used to empty myself of ideas and images.
The attempt to embrace a Picassoesque spirit keeps me on the road to reinvention. My various styles are not exclusive phases in an evolutionary process but options from which I select according to my expressive goals. For example, a jazz musician is painted stylistically different than a low country salt marsh. The emotions, sensuality, and concepts are disparate. Thus, the use of a new style is exercised. “I think great artists are constantly challenging themselves and changing in search of greater truth – look at Picasso and Matisse.” So, I press forth to faithfully continue to produce my paintings, drawings and collages. I refuse to use excuses not to work, but find ways to overcome the obstacles that hinder productivity.
Sometimes, I may be too emotionally and physically tired to work. I’m blessed with two precious children, but I must frankly say, “Small kids have more energy than I could have ever imagined”. Last year was wonderfully exuberate and painfully weighty. In 2008, my only sister, Shirley passed away. Sometimes the challenges of life bring me down. Yet, in the midst of my weariness, I find some way to express myself through my art.
Regardless of the circumstances, ideas abound. I believe there is no single correct pictorial solution. Unlike most painters who have a single style, I have a range of style and imagery through which I work. Jazz musicians, the southern landscape, female nudes, steaming coffee, and the black experience are depicted through expressionist, cubist, abstract, neo-impressionist styles. Openness and exploration rather than a dedication to a particular style best characterize these works. I use pictorial discernment which enables me to go from paintings with a lot of splash and spontaneity to images with a sense of organization and reason. Themes and variations on themes are used to empty myself of ideas and images.
The attempt to embrace a Picassoesque spirit keeps me on the road to reinvention. My various styles are not exclusive phases in an evolutionary process but options from which I select according to my expressive goals. For example, a jazz musician is painted stylistically different than a low country salt marsh. The emotions, sensuality, and concepts are disparate. Thus, the use of a new style is exercised. “I think great artists are constantly challenging themselves and changing in search of greater truth – look at Picasso and Matisse.” So, I press forth to faithfully continue to produce my paintings, drawings and collages. I refuse to use excuses not to work, but find ways to overcome the obstacles that hinder productivity.
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