I was living in the Southwest painting elephants. It was 1981: Rickie and I had just returned from Sudan, she to give birth to Tana out first daughter, and me to fill canvases with great dusty beasts. A year later Sage was born and soon thereafter a bit of reason prevailed and, reluctantly, elephants disappeared from my canvases just as, during that decade, the huge herds we had known vanished from Africa.
Common sense led me to persue painting subjects with a more marketable Southwestern theme and it was only natural that Anasazi pottery began to appear in my work. It was my desire for accurate painting models that began and later fueled my quest for the rediscovery of the lost art of Anasazi ceramics. Happily at some point, I began painting from terrific models. Sadly, buyers were not interested in the paintings, only the models. I had inadvertently satisfied a demand for Anasazi pottery with an ethically correct alternative to prehistoric artifacts. Listening to the market and Rickie, who politely read the handwriting on the wall to me, I hung up my palette and moved into my new niche--Anasazi pottery replicator.
I had not abandoned my passion for oil painting and continued to paint for myself, studing with David Leffell and Sherri McGraw who taught me classic chiaroscura painting and honed my artistic thinking.
It is fitting then, that as my fame as a potter grew, interest in my oil paintings also grew and has now come full circle and they are now,once again in demand. As you will see, I paint a variety of subjects that only have in common a closeness to my heart. My work resists artistic labeling but if that is really necessary, then call me a painter of the joy and beauty of living on this planet. I hope you enjoy the painting wing, it has been 30 years in the building.
Images are unenhanced and low resolution. They link to larger images with descriptions and prices which include shipping but not framing. Better images are available, just ask. Other paintings are also available and commissions are gladly accepted.
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