I guess life has a funny way of coming full circle. When I was young, I doodled all the time. It drove my mother crazy. I had little sketches hidden away on scraps of paper. I filled my school notebooks with drawings in the margins. But my father admonished that I couldn’t make a living as an artist, so I went to college and grad school and started my professional life.
For more than 30 years I focused on how to make information easy to understand through plain language and functional design. I saw the inner workings of communication in all sorts of organizations — from American Express to Social Security Administration and the IRS, from the NCAA to Ford and Chrysler. At its core, my work always looked at how language and design elements work together for clarity and empathy.
Peacefulness.
Tranquility.
Restfulness.
This is what I seek when I look to paint what’s around me. What’s hidden in the shadows? What small moments do others not see?
I’m experimenting with acrylics and oils to draw attention to overlooked instances. In this bustling world we live in, depicting scenes that move me emotionally, that capture occasions of quietude, that echo the silence -- that’s what’s important to remember.
Landscapes, flowers, scenes from foreign cities, people caught unguarded, pets, storing memories, usually peaceful ones. Places of solace. Wonder. Awe.
I hope you are moved as well.
