About My Art
The Death of Autumn in Bethel
THE ART OF LITTLE THINGS
On a cosmic scale, art -- like life -- is a function of rhythm, and all artists create by ear: painters paint by ear, sculptors sculpt by ear, composers compose by ear, writers write by ear, actors act by ear, and photographers capture and extend moments in time by ear. Regardless of the medium, all art taps the same universal rhythm, the same essential cadence that informs and creates all things, animate and inanimate alike.
Of course, we are all attracted to magnificent and grand spectacles like sunsets and cityscapes and mountain ranges and Bengal tigers and Super Bowls. And while my art includes some such larger and louder moments, I more typically find meaning and form and perspective in mostly smaller, commonplace things -- the quieter, more introspective interludes otherwise lost to the relentless cacophony and digital scale of life in the 21st century.
Because in truth we live our lives not in grand moments or spectacles, but in thousands of little moment-to-moment snapshots: mostly quiet, mostly commonplace, mostly pedestrian, and mostly without fanfare or celebrity of any sort. These are the snapshots that -- over a period of years and decades -- build a life. Likewise, these are the snapshots, the little things and quiet moments in time, that catch my eye and find expression in my art: what I call the art of little things.
Maybe it's just a function of feeling my age, but -- now well into my eighth decade -- I've come to understand that the quality of life is largely a function of two things: subtraction and gratitude. I won't elaborate except to say I hope you find ample measures of both in my work. I hope you find yourself...