I live to paint and my entire home is my art gallery. Eventhough I have sold many paintings I am extremely prolific and constantly see my efforts around me. I never get exactly what I want in a painting. I doubt that any artist ever does. I tell my students if they work very hard they can get close but what you want to achieve is always beyond one's present ability. Paintings either get worse with age or they improve. Most of mine seem to improve with age and the faults that seemed so devastating no longer seem significant. I have learned to let paintings live. I used to destroy them out of frustration but no longer. Now I have the burning desire to place them where they will be appreciated. I am now part of Round The Mountain which is an organization designed to attract patrons to artist's homes. I hope this will catch on when Radford has a trail on the site. The address is www.roundthemountain.org
Currently I am at a frustrating point in my development as an artist. I have found ways to make my paintings so strong that they look better without lights shining on them. I follow the impasto approach which dates back to the 17th century. I am frustrated because I have developed so many personal techniques that it is hard for me to just relax and paint. I remember reading somewhere that Renoir once said in so many words that his madness was to play with colors. I can certainly relate to that. I use so much white paint that sometimes I am inhibited by the cost of paint. All of the colors are so expensive now that I don't think I push a painting far enough. I do hope in these difficult economic times I will move more art. I will never quit painting or searching for patrons.
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