ARTIST'S STATEMENT

My approach to art has merged over the years with in my interest in Zen Buddhism. My Zen is so idiosyncratic that I call it "Xen". I want my to art to be a Tao of opposites: of the intellect and sensation, of West and East, of the new and the traditional. I am skeptical of "sophistication" and try to avoid what is "corny". My favorite musical genera are Bach and Bluegrass. I hold authenticity to be the primary guide in my art.

I want the viewer to know, when they are viewing one of my paintings or prints, that it was created caringly by hand. I love "good" technique. However, whenever I get so skilled at an aspect of art that it becomes automatic, then I know that it is time to give it up and look for something fresh. I love watercolor painting. The style that I have pursued is sometimes called, "aquarelle" or "transparent watercolor". This is a demanding way of painting, prohibiting the use of pigments that are opaque, especially black and white. The paper serves as the whites and tints in a painting. I have played a lot with "glazing": painting a wash of one color over another wash, after the first one has dried. This produces color mixing that has a mind of its own.

My printmaking owes a great deal to the Japanese traditions of sumi-e and ukiyo-e. Sumi-e is the art of painting on rice paper or silk with brush and black ink. Ukiyo-e is the classical form of woodblock printing that developed in Japan during the 17^th Century. I have experimented with both approaches. In a large series of prints I combined both styles in making variations on the themes of primary shapes and colors. The simple shapes and colors were printed in relief (wood block) and the shapes were accentuated with brush and ink. I call this series, "In Pursuit of the Tao". In addition, I have tried a variety of approaches to "intaglio" printing. This is printing from metal plates that have been etched or scratched. In intaglio printing, the image is produced by ink carried in grooves and depressions, the raised surface of the plate being wiped clean.

The "Word Art" that I am including in this Art Site is poetry. Composing poetry, to me, is much like Japanese brush painting. Here again is the Tao of control vs. spontaneity. Some of my poems are Western exercises in the form of the haiku and senryu. These are very brief (three lines) poems that conform to complex rules. My other poetry traditional is Western poetry in pursuit of philosophy. I hope to add, one of these days, a number of essays of philosophy, psychology and art.

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