In the 1960s I was interested in metaphysical symbology such as found in alchemical and Gnostic engravings.  The precision, careful delineation, and hatched modeling of German Renaissance prints, typical of such artists as Durer and Altdorfer, inspired my drawing style for the period.

My discovery of William Blake’s text and illustrations for his Marriage of Heaven and Hell allowed me to, perhaps presumptuously, choose this as a vehicle for a series of work that would combine my metaphysical and technical interests.

Several of these pieces also celebrated my enjoyment of the rural Tennessee landscape, although it was often interrupted by dystopian elements.  The series was developed into a book later published in 1972.

Drawings and constructions.

In the 1970s I developed the sharp focused pencil approach and my metaphysical interest into narratives in which each piece contains a story, though often moving into quasi surrealism.

The pencil elements become inserted into sometimes two or   three dimensional colleges and constructions that were influenced by my admiration of Joseph Cornell’s boxes.

Experiments with various acrylic techniques, including image transfers, intensified, sometimes even to the exclusion of the pencil images, but also, at times going back to very traditional media, such as silverpoint.

In the beginning of the 1980s, I shifted away from the collage-construction style which I felt had become too identified with my work.

My interest in acrylic experimentation intensified, and I developed images which though suggesting collage/construction characteristics, paradoxically were in fact, flat and all drawn and painted.

Rich complex color interactions became a strong interest, and I developed a method of layering acrylic paint and prisma color pencil, which I found suited this exploration

In addition to other elements, I began using figurative images from teaching life-drawing classes, and my own life studies.

In the mid-80s, I decided that my art identity had become too defined by small, tightly controlled drawings.  A larger, looser approach became my challenge.  Rembrandt and Watteau became my new models.

I chose large graphite pencils, and extensive use of eraser as a drawing tool, together with dry, pure pigments as media.  A guiding idea was that, as far as possible, every mark had to be singular and dynamic.  Each must show a velocity.  Moving from the prior smaller-scale works, I expanded the scale to 30” x 40”.

The subjects were implied narratives, extrapolated from my own experiences, but allowing a viewer to imagine their own story.  The images themselves were derived from to me, an ironic combination of high art historical sources, and unsolicited clothing catalogs that came in the mail.

Family and friends became the subjects of the ‘90s works.  Satisfied that I was capable of the larger pieces, I returned to smaller, more focused ones. 

The dynamic interactions of Father, Mother, Sons and Daughters were depicted in sometimes very literal ways — such as a real lead heart for “a heavy heart” and an actual entwined vine for a “clinging vine” relationship.

Beginning with traditional rectangular formats, I experimented with others, including works on slate, and irregular shapes defined by driftwood frames. As a child, I recalled tacky paintings for sale along the highway that were framed in driftwood.  Why should folk artists have all the fun?  I was intrigued by the paradox of reversing the usual creative sequence by first making the frame which then would suggest   a colored and textured ground, then the subject and idea.

As the century turned, I also revisited formats I had used earlier.  Personal themes of parenting, teaching marine images from boating, and my motorcycle interests provided subjects.

I continued with a mixed media format, working with irregular shapes but also rectangular boxes of heavily patined copper.

The animal drawings began as an outgrowth of my life-drawing   class demonstrations.  Not having a live model away from school, I chose my dog Cleo as a subject.  I tried to evolve the drawings from very loose suggestive gestures to more finished works, in the same way that I was teaching students.  Since my demonstrations in class were of necessity quite short, I brought in pieces to show how loose beginnings could resolve into finished pieces.

I became quite interested in these common animals as subjects, and moved from pencil to full color. I devised a rather innovative technique moving from graphite drawings using erasure, to larger scale, using dry pigments, which were applied directly to the paper with rolled up pieces of sweatshirt.

Expressing the character and personality of a dog or cat became fully as interesting as any subject I’ve worked with.  After this series, I engaged in other interest for a while before beginning the completely new Automata project which can be found in “Links.”

Drawing the human figure from life has been crucial to the development of many artists.  For me, this has been a continuing passion from undergraduate school and throughout my career.

At the university, I taught a life drawing class nearly every semester and conducted numerous workshops in other venues as well.

My own figurative studies, demonstrating in class, and watching talented students draw, have been a key part of my development

My own figure pieces have often been the basis for later developed works, and the “feel” of working from the figure has informed nearly all of my work.