As a former potter, I am very interested in the spontaneous, the uncontrolled, the ‘happy accident.’ As a student and fan of Jazz, I am intrigued and thrilled by improvisation and the great things that can happen when self criticism, self doubt and fear are banished, and emotion, heart and creativity are given free rein.
I really enjoy the immediacy of painting; act now, get results now, and what you see is what you get, which is somewhat unlike the “delayed gratification” of working with clay.
However, some of the concepts which were important to me as a potter definitely play a role in what I do now as a painter. In working with clay and glazes, and the variable atmosphere of the kiln, there is much that one can influence, but not really control.
There is a sense in which one is both performer and audience; you act, observe the results of your actions, and react to those results. I enjoy painting in this same spontaneous, improvisational way; apply color to the surface, see what happens, respond with more color, see what emerges, and react to that.
I think it is much like jazz; listening, reacting and playing simultaneously, so that what emerges is influenced by each musician, but never under total control. Often, the unexpected results are the most expressive and most enjoyable.
My paintings are abstract landscapes, based on memories of the places I have lived in and visited; the great plains, north woods and lake country of my youth, the Carolina mountains and seascapes of my adult life, and the desert Southwest and Europe.