| Why Paint... As a boy growing up in the small midwestern town of Lamar, Missouri I spent many weekends and vacations with my father and family fishing and camping near Springfield and Branson. Lakes and streams seen at sunrise and sunset, on stormy days, on cloudy days and on bright sunny days. Old buildings nestled in the valleys, roadways hugging the sides of the rolling hills, an old dog sleeping near the door of a roadside diner, or the light falling across grandma's porch swing, all formed lasting impressions. These are the impressions and memories that often sneak back, onto the painted surfaces of my canvases and paper. My paintings are not intended to be reality seen through a camera. A painting should be your interpretation of the subject, your feelings and emotions. I also like for people to see beyond the subject matter, to see it first as a painting, paint on canvas, with good shapes, darks and lights, and bright glowing colors. I paint in oil,acrylic and watercolor. Known more for my watercolors, I have experimented in a variety of styles and media, changing the palette from time to time, adapting each to the mood, the light or just the feel of the day. I love the texture, heavy brush strokes, and the way bright warm and cool colors reveal themselves as they push to the surface of an acrylic or oil. I want my work to reflect, what I beleave a very important aspect between the surface patina, texture and the many layers of colors below. More than anything, I just enjoy the process of painting. At the age of twelve I started painting in watercolor with a older professional artist, mostly on weekends around his old fram home in Aurora, Missouri.. We painted trees, rain barrels, barns and out buildings. I didn't know the term Plein-Air, we just knew we could draw and paint better if we could see it. For my Plein Air oil sketches today, I start with a quick drawing, looking for big major shapes that afford the best design or composition. I break some of these down to smaller shapes, always concerned with the negative shapes and sizes. I next lay down several layers of bright colors, straight from the tube, dividing them into lights and darks. Local color is then mixed and added over the colors below. I want, what may look like a quick sweep of the brush, a splash of this or that. I want the painting to look as if it painted its self. I finish with as little detail as possible, this is the hard part. Sometimes this part of the process takes longer than the actual painting because of deciding, does it need this color or that, this dark or that light. If everything is spelled out in the painting the mystery is gone, the viewer has nothing to contribute, and the collaboration between artist and viewer is compromised. I am never completely satified with my work and that keeps me constantly trying to perfect my painting skills. I like the terms " artist artist" and " painterly." I want the viewer to look deep into the work seeing all the sutal color changes,brightness and vitatily. I want the viewer to return to the work, to look again and again. |
| For More Information Call David... 417-540-1206 |
| "Art is pleasure objectified" Edgar A. Whitney |
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