Painting My Passion!

Painting animals has always been my passion. Since early childhood I've felt a very deep emotional, almost spiritual empathy for nature that I have always tried to convey in my artwork.

Majestic big cats, or, small rodents and reptiles, deer and antelope, and of course, the horse! I can almost feel what it might be like to be them sometimes, in my imagination...like a cougar, perhaps;

Weaving silently through dark trees and the cover of rock and shrub, she moves gracefully towards a spring, cautious and methodically searching. Then, upon a first glimpse of possible prey, a viseral reaction of flowing saliva and dilating pupils and she freezes motionless and breathless so not to warn of her presence. With unrelenting focus, every movement calculated, and, every advantage of cover taken, she begins the stalk.

Or, it might be the wild horses;

They gallop for sheer joy with nostrils flaring red and eyes wild in mock fear, playing at dominance with a ferocious countanence and pounding hooves. Finding comfort in strength and speed, and, the closeness of their kind, the young stallions, with a fierceness of longing pounding in thier hearts, and, surrounded with forage from horizon to horizon, still hunger at the scent of wild grass just over the next hill.

I can feel them as if I am one, living as they do. I use that fantasizing to come up with ideas for new paintings. Horses were always my favorite and are still my most beloved muse. I paint many, many horses, some portraits of someones beloved pet, but, most are just figments of my imagination that paused long enough in thier wanderings through my grey matter for me to capture them in oils, or, graphite. I'm influenced by all I see about me, things I see, hear, or, read about, and, my inspirations may come from totally unrelated sources to the subject of my painting, but, they somehow spark an image that I may prod and work around in my mind until I have to put it to paper, and, maybe if it is strong enough, to paint.

Many of my paintings tell stories with little dramas in paint, and some express an emotion, a motion, or, a purety and beauty of form. Some paintings are exercises in painting whereby the subject is actually the process, and, the animals depicted are just vehicles for the study of color and values, composition, texture, and, line. Regardless of my painting intentions, however, animals, and especially horses, are nearly always a big part of the picture. I've tried painting other subject matter, and, even other styles including pure non-objective abstraction, but, I always found these uninspiring and cold. I always come back, without apology, to my true passion in art, the horse!

The Creative Struggle

I don't remember who wrote it, but, I always recall this quote from something I read years ago;

"Painting is a series of corrections."

I know this is so true for myself and for many other artists, too! Everything I paint is a struggle to 'see' it right and I always have to make many corrections along the way before anything is 'finished' (being finished usually meaning I can't see anything more to correct at that time)! Sometimes, I'll do something I'm particularly proud of, until time-experience-education show me all its flaws. Learning to see it correctly, and, to apply what I see or know, is a constant learning process. I strive for perfection of form, color, composition, and character. I learn from each and every piece of artwork I complete, and, even if I never quite seem to achieve what I have in mind, I improve with each new attempt, getting closer to that elusive perfection I envision.

I produce my very best work, now-at this point in time, yet, future works will eventually eclipse the older. Still, each work must stand alone unique and a testament to my abilities at the point in time that I create them. I often cringe when I look at my older work, because I see the flaws that I couldn't see then - when I created it. I accept those flawed works, however, that I once was so proud of, because each painting was a triumph, too, a culmination of my experience and ability at that moment in time, and, a vital stepping stone of growth as an artist and the foundations to visions and direction for new work in the future. I truly could not paint what I do today if I had never struggled, persevered, and finally brought to a finish each and every artwork I did in the past!