Inspiration

Remains of Monday, Collage

Origins, Mixed Media

Most creative people are frequently asked “where do you get your ideas?”  When fellow artists and even non- artist friends ask this question, the immediate response is “everywhere.”  This may sound trite but it's so true.  One day as I opened my mailbox and found it full of junk mail and not much else, I started thinking about just how much “trash” ordinary people collect in just one day – plastic wrappers, paper bags, images from magazines, emails that we don’t need to keep, used crossword puzzles, movie tickets, used dryer sheets, and on and on.  This idea floated around for several days and then the concept for Remains of the Day was born, a collage series with whatever I had collected for each day in a week.

Cecil, Oil

 Eating out is a treasure trove for the portraits I love to paint – not the stiff formal ones but “character” studies –unusual  people whose faces speak of an interesting history or lifestyle. Watching the news often incites a desire to rave about injustice or how we now have “news as entertainment” rather than just the facts.  Being outside and finding the shadows left imprinted on the driveway by leaves after it rains inspired an abstract series based on shadows.

St. James Island Marsh, Pastel

 When the muse seems to have left me, I often listen to music or read poetry and these never fail to conjure up images that just might be my next favorite painting.  Literally anything can provide inspiration if we are open to the endless possibilities that are right in front of our eyes or floating around inside our heads at 3:00 in the morning.