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Artistic Statement
Art is communicating what is important to an artist, and offering an experience to the viewer as a gift. The gift is returned to the artist, by knowing there is human interaction and influence to some degree.
My artwork is most often simply about the excruciating beauty of the world around us.
A painting can invoke new thinking, or it can be a respite from the stressful thoughts of life. I mainly want to pursue joy in my work, but sometimes highlight other ideas.
Art is adventure. The goal is seldom more than to experiment, express, and play, with the things that for me, are full of joy: color, shape, line, and light. Sometimes animals or objects show up. Sometimes there are light-hearted cartoon-like images. Sometimes there is only an echo of a subject, with the color and the paint consuming the canvas. More important than style or consistency, is what is currently calling out to be painted.
“God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars”
Martin Luther
“God is in the details”
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
“An artist is an explorer”
Henri Matisse
“Art should be like a holiday. Something to give a [person] the opportunity to see things differently, and to change [their] point of view.”
Paul Klee
Biography
About me. Well, I was born in a small town in rural Mississippi. Now I paint.
In-depth version:
I had my first commission for a painting at age 9. I went to art school (a long time ago). After that, I opened a design firm on Music Row in Nashville. Illustration and design were my main activities in the 80s and 90s. There were some awards, lots of fancy clients (you’d recognize them), and over 20 children’s books (millions in print, so that was fun.)
I have a great family and some wonderful friends. They continue to tolerate me, so life is good.
I got bored with commercial art after a while, which is a tendency. Then one day I noticed there was no place to really learn art, and started an art school, Firstlight Art. Lots of students showed up. Maybe more than 4,000 of them by now. Counting them all is tedious, but it’s otherwise a very awesome place, and we’ve been in Cool Springs for over 18 years. (Yes, this is surprising to me). Find more info about the school on the LEARN page.
I make a lot of art, so I’m opening The Gallery at Firstlight in September 2024. I hope you can come see it. You can preview the work by going to the ARTWORK page, but seeing artwork live and in person is important if you really want to see artwork. Hence, gallery. A gallery is a cool concept. You can think of it as kind of like a pet store for instagram posts, where you can take a live one home if you want.
I’ve written a couple of books to help artists. Check out the BOOKS page for info.
Also on the LEARN page is a description and link for my Substack blog, Artibles – word snacks the the creative side of your brain. It’s also for artists and is pretty much free.
Everyone is creative. I think a lot more people are artists than a lot of people think.
Thank you for looking at my website. Let’s talk soon.
Paintings of my offspring
Favorite Coffee Mug, made by Rachel Durham
Drawing of me with delicious coffee, by talented student, Maeve
