I paint mostly to watch myself learn. If each year I am happier with the results it is worth doing. I have no wish to be thought of as a “modern” artist – I am boringly old-fashioned. My goal is to paint in the “old ways.” It takes many years of repetition and struggle to learn to move a pen or brush swiftly and with confidence that the resulting mark will please the eye. And it takes many weeks to apply paint in the manner of the old masters, beginning with a “grisaille” and building layers of “fat over lean” until the desired result is achieved. I choose to do this not because it is easy, but because it is hard – and increasingly rare.
(As an aside, and because my web expert says I should add this, here’s a link to my yacht design work.)
Just as I acknowledge and appreciate those who have seen merit in my own work, I wish to honor and support the artistic endeavors of my framers. Unlike so many these days I always display my artwork beautifully framed. Many of the frames you see here are works of art in themselves. The best of them are hand carved, 22 karat gold-leafed closed-corner frames from the Motyka atelier in Central Falls, Rhode Island, and in many cases my works will also have tastefully hand-lettered gold-leaf nameplates. If you wish to buy a painting but need to keep the cost down, I do have inexpensive frames and can reframe your chosen work and credit the difference in the frame cost.
I recognize that my large oils are beyond the reach of some would-be collectors. For this reason I offer my popular hand-drawn originals in pen and ink and pencil, and small watercolors. These works are reasonably priced and thus an excellent choice for persons who would like to own an original work of art at a reasonable cost.
Most important, I hope this exhibition of my works has brightened your day. That, more than any other reason, is why I paint.
1000 Miles to Land. 30 x 40 Oil on Canvas. 22 carat gold-leafed Motyka Hudson River Style frame and hand-lettered nameplate. poa