Discovering the medieval town of Sauve was one of the highlights of all my years of scouring the D roads in France. Coming upon the square of Café Florian, you're sure you've entered a movie set. As ancient plane trees rise above the square creating natural umbrellas, townsfolk collect under their shade for a drink, a meal, or an entire afternoon of conversation. 

The challenge in painting such a quintessential scene was to capture the timeless pleasure of the place without succumbing to cliché, trite, or saccharin gimmickry. My strategy was to synthesise all the visual bits of the scene into a cohesive visual statement. The painting is organised first, by the arch of the plane trees, followed by the arches of the café. With the stage thus set, just enough human activity is suggested so that each viewer has the liberty to add the final details. 

I've painted Marie in this magical garden in Burgundy before. One would think that painting the same subject again would be a breeze. But it isn't. As artists dig deeper into their soul, it becomes increasingly difficult to be content with the result.

In this case it was my desire to mix the exuberance of a beautiful garden path with the mystery of a person's private thoughts that pushed me to edit and adjust my original brushstrokes. The composition of the garden head on with its arbor framing the person from the back was spot on. Achieving subtlety and balance of all this visual delight took time. Wrapped snuggly in her shawl, our subject is not only protecting her body, but also her spirit. Her gaze is left to our imagination, but as she looks down at the flower bed, she is also looking inward, tending her own thoughts. The uneven  twist of her body leads us to anticipate her next step. 

In order to focus attention on our human condition, it was essential to keep minimize floral details. It's your invitation to walk the Garden Path, as well.

Blue Buffalo Check Tête-à-Tête started with a dynamic little pencil sketch of our foyer. But the more I painted , the more it lost the energy of the sketch. After letting it gestate for a few days, I realised I'd included extraneous information that was confounding the point of the painting. Back at the easel, I began to deconstruct the painting until the chairs and table reigned as planned. The truth of the matter is, details in paintings are like spices in cooking. As fine as the line is between flavourful and inedible, so is the risk of beauty and visual chaos.

My Interior paintings always strive to capture the beauty of the mundane. In this case, it's the conversation inspired by sharing a cup of tea.

When new students come to me to learn how to paint, they want to paint something in particular: trees, portraits, fruit, buildings... The first chapter of my painting career was no different. Still in that invincible stage of life, learning to paint things with some degree of success got my painting career rolling. About ten years ago, I realised there was more to it. Maybe it was a side effect of living with cancer. The painting business had become my lifeline.

Ultimately, that Life Shadow brought maturity to my work and  I spent the second chapter of my painting career learning how to organise those things and places I had been painting into patterns of light and dark. It paid off: my paintings became stronger and I began to win awards in art shows and museums.

Etretat ll, 9x12 oil on linen. 1st Place 2023 Annual Members' Exhibition, Akron Society of Artists