About my paintings...

Intuitive, Nonrepresentational, Mixed Media Art

Intuitive painting is releasing yourself from planning, rules or judgement and just going with the flow. It’s like I’m on auto pilot. I don’t pick colors most of the time. I just reach and what ever my hand lands on, that is what I use. Tools and mediums are the same way. All the rules are already in my head so they just do their thing.

Nonrepresentational is the word that throws people, even artists have asked me what this means. Most people call it abstract but abstract is not the word, even though most would call it that. Picasso is a great example of abstract art. when an artist works in abstraction they are distorting the view of a known thing, person, or place. Picasso often abstracted people and things. Paul Klee (1879–1940) and Joan Miró (1893–1983) are great examples of abstraction ranging from surrealism to cubism. Nonrepresentational art is work that does not represent or depict a being, place, or thing. Think of artists like Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, Jackson Pollock (1912–1956), Mark Rothko (1903–1970). While the given names of paintings may give you an idea of what the artist was thinking,  sometimes that has nothing to do with anything and could have been pulled from thin air. Often some will find what they may think is a representation of something (in their mind) but that is the beauty of art, we see what we want to see.

Mixed Media just adds to the confusion. I like to use Acrylics but I like to use anything so, I may use charcoal, colored pencils or pastels. I may use house paint, glue, magazines, newspaper, leaves or dirt. Anything can be used if applied in layers and sealed between coats. I work in layers and there can be many. I like to tear down about as much as I build up the layers. Scratching and gouging the layers just add to the end product. I’m not afraid to use different colored tapes, tissues and paper or to burn it with a heat gun and sand it with an orbital sander. I use my wood working tools, kitchen utensils and also my garden tools, trowels, paint guards and sometimes I even use paint brushes! These works can be really thick paint, very textured or as smooth as glass. They can be finished with wax, acrylic or oil and cold wax. Nothing is off the table and I like to try everything. One thing is for sure I’ll never be bored. 

As always if you have any questions just contact me.