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The media of drawing and oil painting have resurfaced
after a thirty-year hiatus as a metal-smith. I am attracted to the interaction
between paper and pencil, the subtle difference of texture, hue and tonality,
spending equal effort on developing technical skills and a personal statement.
Tools like paper and pencil enabled thoughts and feelings to be conveyed
to us from past civilizations. I, among countless others, enjoy the exquisite
drawings from the 15th century and am indeed influenced by these unsurpassed
masters. Today, with similar methods, I am inspired and challenged to
render details and subtle reflections from different subjects and scenery.
Likewise the ability to use erasers, lightening dark areas or making corrections,
enables me to achieving the desired effect of subtle differences in surfaces
and mood. I hope to spark a deep emotional response in the people viewing
my work and to create a space where I will be able to enrich my own life.
Simplicity and long periods of solitude are among the rewards, in the
otherwise fast and complex lifestyle I have chosen. Compared with being
a jeweler, now I have the freedom from purchasing and safekeeping costly
materials. Previously the challenge was making gold into something pleasing
of gold. Now the objective, with paper and pencil having no material value
at the outset, is introducing value and meaning through sound craftsmanship
and a newly found awareness with which I observe my surroundings.
My challenge, as an artist, is to live up to a standard
of excellence the masters of previous centuries have established. Michelangelo
said: “ the greater danger is not that our hopes are too high and
we fail to reach them; it's that they're too low and we do.“
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