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Paper, gesso, brush! Close your eyes and take in the smell. Rub your hands along the sides, then across the top of the paper as you caress it softly, letting the grain of the sheet communicate its essence to your fingertips. Open your eyes and allow the paper to hypnotize you as you study its being...then paint. This is the way that I visualize painting before I lay down the first line on the paper.
My love of paper as a support for my work is only transcended by the love of my woman, my children, my friends. Handmade paper is the best, I think. There is no uniformity. Sometimes you'll find a small sliver of hair; sometimes a strand of unprocessed cloth; always imperfections...thin, thick, rough and smooth all in one sheet. No two sheets will ever be exactly the same. Such imperfections lend themselves as a perfect support for an imperfect artist to explore and to include in his work.
To me art is a way of defining love, something that pretty much escaped throughout most of my life. It starts with the paper, and then extends from there.
When you look into the eyes of my subjects they look back at you idrectly--much as I do in real life--and watch as you laugh, cry, work, relax, and play. They represent my desire to belong to something much greater than I can ever be as a singular entity.
When you view the galleries that are set up to display my work relax, let your hair down and kick your shoes off...be liked and feel loved, for that is what I want my work to invoke in people. You will never have to guess what you are seeing for what you see is exactly what you get. Some might find that boring. Others might find that refreshing. For those who find my way of doing things boring, no worries, it will give you something to talk about and give some other poor struggling artist an even break. On s'ennuie de tout...c'est une loi de la Nature; ce n'est pas ma faute. (Laclos, Les Liaisons dangereuses)
For those who find the work refreshing, go out and have a great day...change the world, or look deeply inside yourself and find peace. I believe in the power or art, its ability to change lives, and its innate ability to give one a sense of purpose, understanding and an intrinsic involvement with the world that surrounds us.
Bored, or refreshed, come back from time to time to see what's new. Every week you will see the galleries grow, some more than others, and in the process you can see the growth of an artist as well. In a few months another website will be launched called Tfias.com which will define a new era for the work that I love to share.
Welcome!
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