About the Art Process
A primarily consider myself an acrylic painter. But I also use any materials that I feel called to pull out–pastels, pencils, gauche, watercolors. I use brushes but I also create monoprints. I’m more interested in the result than the tool.
Because I have a background in technology, it’s not surprising that digital tools have found their way into my work. I use Adobe Fresco to create some work, sometimes for the whole project. But other times I start a painting as an acrylic on paper, or a monoprint, and then I digitize it and play with it again. Or I might stop a painting midway, have it printed by a fine arts printer, and work with it again. Sometimes indulging myself by taking the same base painting in multiple directions. I might cut a piece out of a piece, crop it, change the format. Whatever strikes my fancy.
This approach enables me to create a variety of paintings based on one original work–working with a fine arts printer who uses archival papers, canvases, and inks to produce the prints I offer for sale. When I print on canvas, I may add to the painting, and hand finish primarily with multiple layers of cold wax, which adds depth and an organic feel to the image.
Postscript
There is a lot of talk these days about the use of AI in art. I do not use this technology in my work. I enjoy the process of developing my own ideas and imagery and putting pen or brush to the support. I like the spirit of the hand in the end result. I do know that this technology is a genie that will not go back in the bottle. Like every other new invention, both good and bad will come from it. In the meantime, the courts will stay busy making determinations about who owns the copyright, and whether and how other copyrighted materials can be used without compensation.