"A man who works with his
hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a
craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his
heart is an artist. " -- Louis Nizer
Artist’s Statement
My art is mixed media combining
assemblage, encaustic painting, the use of books as substrates and
found objects as interesting embellishments. I like to generate
layers of information in my artwork, but keep it mysterious....almost
dreamy. My work themes seem to come from observations, happenings, and
the influence of science in my life.
I feel that it is not necessary to have people completely understand my
art, merely question what is occurring and be able to grasp a feeling
that each piece generates. I believe that the only thing constant is
change. This belief is thematic in my art. I am passionate about
engaging my visual system, hands, and memory to collaborate in my brain
to take the discarded objects found around us everyday and to reinvent
them into retrospective, pleasant and functional pieces of art. My art
takes many forms, but keeps a theme of changes, of layers, of old, of
memories, of looking back and of reutilization; images range from
subtle or mysterious to bold and brash.
Altered Books
An altered book is a form of artwork
that changes a book from its original form into something else.
An altered book artist takes a book (old, new, recycled or multiple)
and cuts tears, glues, burns, folds, paints, adds to, collages,
rebinds, gold-leafs, creates pop-ups, drills, and bolts it. They
add pockets and niches to hold tags, secret drawers and ephemera or
other three dimensional objects. Some change the shape of the
book, or use multiple books in the creation of their finished piece of
art. The use of books permits the artist to work in a 3-dimensional
context that other artists must create in their craft. In addition,
working with this medium allows the artist the excitement of
discovering interesting oddities of information in the books that
he/she is manipulating.
Encaustic painting
Encaustic is from the Greek word enkaustikos meaning ‘to fuse' or 'to burn in’.
It is the oldest painting technique dating from the 4th century B. C.
Greek shipbuilders used this process to waterproof the undersides
of their boats. Pigment was later added to decorate the brightly
painted war ships.
Animal or vegetable wax (I use beeswax)
is melted with the resin of the Asian fir tree and color pigments
added, if desired. This molten “paint” is then
applied with a brush to a wooden panel, book surface or other
appropriate substrate. The wax immediately hardens and must be fused
with fire, or heat, for its permanency. Its nature is to preserve
and color.
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