Artist’s Statement

Artist's Statement

“What’s New is Old Again.”

My  artistic vision veers sharply away from the relativism of Post-Modernism, popularized the latter half of the  20th Century. I’m a NeoModernist.

I value Craftsmanship, Composition, and Sublimity’.

A late bloomer, when I started painting I wanted to honor many of the ideals I found throughout the works of earlier artists I admired. These  elements are:  extraordinary Craftsmanship;  a logically complete Composition; and a Majesty that is sublime.

I find myself really enjoying the intellectually challenging painting process. By mining early 20th Century masters, I hope to raise awareness of their style and genius.

In short — “What’s new is old again.” My work returns to older ideas—not as nostalgia, but as a way forward.

I work exclusively with oil on canvas, as exploring the effects of color fascinates me. I enjoy tinkering with a still-wet canvas, during the days-long drying period. validating the importance of composition.

Figurative painting suits my vision. I find objects, even common objects, can elicit an emotional response when artfully presented. Or, as my favorite dictum goes, ‘It’s not what you say, but how you say it (that matters).’

Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and Modernism are the primary influences I’ve studied. Whether in museums, auction houses, or private residences, I have closely examined those paintings, and been inspired by their craftsmanship and soul. Like old Jazz standards, I find traditional styles can be refreshed into something new again.

Artificial Intelligence is a new development, and will ultimately impact nearly every aspect of life, including the fine arts. I’ve embraced AI as a tool, and use it as an aid, like a sketch pad. Like photography before it, AI shortens the design process.

My wish is to create paintings that align with my values and elements (Craftsmanship, Composition and Sublimity) that I cherish in the painted fine arts.

I think of this approach as neo‑modernism: using contemporary source material filtered through old‑world craftsmanship. By the time a motif reaches canvas, the AI sketches have been challenged by drawing, corrected by observation, and transformed by layers of paint and glaze. The result is work that suggests memory more than novelty, as if these scenes have already been lived with for some time. In this way, the newest technologies become a path back to an older sense of looking, and what appears new arrives already a little worn, familiar, and human.

And so: