I make paintings of the ocean, mostly seen from a beach that could be on the California or Oregon coast. The ocean seems to be in my bones, and I love to capture certain things about it when I paint or draw. The way sunlight reflected off the chop and the waves, especially in late afternoons, was something I absorbed rather than noticed as a kid growing up in Southern California, walking home on the beach after school. I love to paint that, and have spent many years trying different techniques and tweaking to get a painting to first talk to me and then, if I'm lucky, to finally sing!
This painting, called Field of Mind, is one that sang for me and still does. When I did it (in 1994 I think) I was thinking about what it would be like to wander along a coastline path with nothing but wildflowers, a few trees, distant sand dunes, the ocean and a pale afternoon sky around me.
The big irony is that I haven't lived by the ocean since late 1986. I've lived in Wisconsin since then with my wife Vicki and our three daughters. Wisconsin is a wonderfully moderate place. Schools are good, living expenses are relatively low, jobs are plentiful, it's quiet, and people here are fairly open-minded. Vicki's family is all around us here, and I have some relatives on my dad's side up North.
