Bio
After retiring from a long career as a neuroscientist eight years ago, I returned to painting, something in which I had previously only dabbled. I ordered dozens of instructional DVDs and downloaded many online workshops. I took a few classes.
Growing up along the coast of Long Island Sound, I was attracted to the power of the ocean especially as it interacts with the solidity of rocks and the fragility of boats. I started painting seascapes with acrylics.
As a lifelong bird watcher and animal and nature photographer, acrylics seemed ideal for painting animals so I painted lots of birds, most of which adorn my walls at home. However, six years ago, after seeing a show of Andrew Wyeth’s watercolors at the Wadsworth Atheneum, I began painting with watercolors and enjoyed the luminosity, fluidity, and casual looseness of this medium.
I subsequently joined the local shoreline art societies and discovered the joy of painting outdoors with like-minded friends. I switched to oils as my primary medium for painting still life and the outdoors en plein air. Painting with oils brought me back through the centuries where this was the medium of the great masters, though they had to mix their own pigments and we simply squeeze a tube. I loved the versatility of oils; they can be used thin like watercolor, thick with impasto effects, layered through lacey brushstrokes, or blended smooth.
Alas, last year I discovered the tactile immersion of pastels. Pastels are pure pigment with a little binder to form them into soft sticks. Working directly with your hands onto a surface, mark making dependent on how you hold the stick and the pressure you apply. It is such a direct experience, like drawing with charcoal.
Painting can be a meditative experience in which the artist transcends the daily concerns of living to embrace the unity of all life. Maybe someday, I will merge my mediums into a more expressive style—yet to unfold.
Growing up along the coast of Long Island Sound, I was attracted to the power of the ocean especially as it interacts with the solidity of rocks and the fragility of boats. I started painting seascapes with acrylics.
As a lifelong bird watcher and animal and nature photographer, acrylics seemed ideal for painting animals so I painted lots of birds, most of which adorn my walls at home. However, six years ago, after seeing a show of Andrew Wyeth’s watercolors at the Wadsworth Atheneum, I began painting with watercolors and enjoyed the luminosity, fluidity, and casual looseness of this medium.
I subsequently joined the local shoreline art societies and discovered the joy of painting outdoors with like-minded friends. I switched to oils as my primary medium for painting still life and the outdoors en plein air. Painting with oils brought me back through the centuries where this was the medium of the great masters, though they had to mix their own pigments and we simply squeeze a tube. I loved the versatility of oils; they can be used thin like watercolor, thick with impasto effects, layered through lacey brushstrokes, or blended smooth.
Alas, last year I discovered the tactile immersion of pastels. Pastels are pure pigment with a little binder to form them into soft sticks. Working directly with your hands onto a surface, mark making dependent on how you hold the stick and the pressure you apply. It is such a direct experience, like drawing with charcoal.
Painting can be a meditative experience in which the artist transcends the daily concerns of living to embrace the unity of all life. Maybe someday, I will merge my mediums into a more expressive style—yet to unfold.
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