One bitter cold evening last winter, I trekked from my house in the woods to a Manhattan bound train, hopped on a subway downtown, walked the last chilly blocks, pushing through double doors into a convivially noisy, warm trattoria to greet my friends.
Sketch of Horse and Rider, Rome, pencil and pen on paper, 9”x6”
As art students, we had all lived together in Palazzo Cenci in Rome's Trastevere neighborhood, surrounded by the art of Caravaggio, Michelangelo, Bernini, and many others. Now our program's much-loved director had come to town, and we travelled from far and near to be together again.
As talk turned to our various projects, I mentioned that I was scaling up small flower sketches to fill big walls. One of my friends remarked that what draws him to my work is my gesture.
Pigeon (in process), charcoal and acrylic on linen, 22”x28”
Seagull (in process), charcoal, acrylic, and sand on canvas, 30”x40”
As art Gesture is that first sweeping, full body transmission of the motion and energy of the object to the surface. Accuracy of form is not primary: extracting and representing the essence of the thing is.
I could impart to the wall a more open and three dimensional feeling by using gesture to break up the space.
Franz Kline, Mahoning, 1956, oil and paper on canvas
I went to the Whitney to look at the powerful and slashing marks made by Franz Kline and Willem DeKooning, and left with a gut understanding of lines carving into space, transforming two dimensions into three.
I returned to my flowers with a refreshed concept: take them from decorative images to space transforming objects.
Flower Mural sketch, detail, pencil and oil paint on canvas
I wanted to move from a more delicate, ornamental flower
Wild Rose (left), and Broadleaf Arrowhead (right), both charcoal and oil paint on canvas, 34"x48"