Priest, prophet,shaman,artist,poet, musician Every society has instinctively created a priest/shaman role for itself. It may reside in one profession or broken up into many, but each society will have 'priests' - experts that mediate between the visible and invisible worlds. Shamans, priests, psychiatrists, social workers, etc. all share this ancient identity in part or in whole.
Portals These artworks are about the boundary between the controlled or domesticated and the uncontrolled or wild. Human culture is a man-made clearing cut out of the wilderness. The 'wild' will take it over again when it is no longer attended to as with all human endeavors.
The Muse This gallery is about the entity that inspires my artwork. The entity has many names but is generally known either as the 'Muse' or the 'Spirit'. I have written a series of poetic pieces on the stages of my relationship with this entity on my 'Wordpress' site under the title of 'The Muse'.
Premonitions These paintings have an expectancy about them. We are living in a time between epochs - witnessing the end of one and the birth of another.
Resurrections Our lives goes through cycles. The cycles can go down or up but move in three phases. The first phase is the existentially uncomfortable phase when a person feels a vague, but strong, need to 'move on'. The second phase is the period in which a person moves into unfamiliar waters. This phase is often accompanied by anxiety, excitement, or depression, but is always ambiguous because the past's reference points are no longer relevant. The third phase is the arrival stage in which the tension that caused the journey has been resolved. This three part pattern is well known in several humanistic disciples (e.g.: spirituality, social work, counseling). The following artworks represent phases of the change journey. All of the works are portraits of either myself or people close to me who were on that journey.
Disintegration In this dimension of existence we are creatures of time and atoms. In this soup we are born, grow, and disintegrate as corporeal beings. This process is either a fading into nothingness or a launch into a new dimension. There are no facts about what might happen after death and we answer those questions by our secual or religious faith - both of which are products of our imagination with no proof only convictions.
Mortality and Elegies This gallery contains work that deal with mortality and the aging process. Our culture is youth oriented and tries to hide or reverse the aging process. These paintings are about the natural aging process and the emotions that are common to it.
Sleep While reviewing my artwork I see that I have subconsciously developed a new theme. The new theme is 'sleep'. Traditionally, sleep has been associated with religious or subconscious explanations but as I grow older I find that it is associated with a type of 'world weariness'.also.
Existential States A collection of artworks that describe existential situations in my life and by extension everyone else's at one time or another
Love and sex Love is one of the most complicated experiences we have. It takes many forms and often ambushes us. It is demanding and each experience of it marks us till the end of our days.
Social Concerns I have been involved in social causes for many decades. My involvements have led to artworks.
Most of the artworks in this gallery could be placed in other galleries but are more appropriately placed here.
Religion This gallery contains reinterpreted traditional religious subjects.
American Suite This gallery is about American consumer culture. Everything has a price and is for sale in this culture. The slickness of the advertising and packaging often over-rides our ability to critically think about the objects that we are deluged with.
Recently created art I have generally worked on artworks everyday and have done so for many decades. It usually takes me three to four months before I am done working a piece - sometimes much longer. I save my art for several weeks until I have a quantity that has not been shown. The artwork in this gallery was created over several months but posted now and here for the first time.
Landscapes Landscapes are a subject theme I use to express experiences of mystery and presence. Most viewers will generally spend more time with a landscape than a pure abstract painting. The more time and familiarity that the viewer has with the artwork the more likely he/she will experience the mystery and presence that the work can lead to.
Plastic Sculpture 1969 -1971 The sculptures in this gallery were made from plastic film that I melted paint, foil, objects, and images into. Several of them were hangings that floated in mid-space and measured 25 or 30 feet long by 6 to 8 feet wide - yet weighed only a few pounds which allowed any ambient wind to move them. They were also incorporated into dance and dramatic pieces where they were strobed in darkened rooms. None of them exist anymore. Several were destroyed by irate 'viewers' when they were used in 'guerrilla "placements' in public settings. I was exploring 'presences' and how that feeling might be generated in several of these pieces. In other pieces I was commenting on our 'throw-away' consumer culture or a topical social issue.
Sunsets The sunset seems to bring out both elegiac and inspirational feeling in people. It is a primal landscape that encourages meditation in our species. I have been incorporating them into my paintings for several years and have recently been photographing them. This gallery contains a record of these sunsets. They have been taken, for the most part, on a beach in Sarasota County, Florida, or in Ontario, Canada.
Flowers Flowers are powerful creatures that forcefully tunnel out of the earth seeking nourishment, light, and sex to create new offspring. Flowers do this by becoming unbelievably attractive thus luring insects to participate in their sexual act of reproduction. Flowers are savage, purposeful creatures that use their beauty to entice others for their own ends. The pictures in this gallery are not watermarked so that if someone wishes to use them for 'religious or humanistic' purposes, he/she may do so after consulting me.
