Why do I paint?

My goal in creating art is simple: I want to bring beauty into the world, share it with you in order that you may experience the same joy of seeing the infinite awesomeness of our world.

A little more on this notion:

Beauty

I consider beauty to be a powerful inner experience, rather than an occurrence outside of oneself. Each individual has the potential to be in this experience of beauty; it is merely choosing to be present to the experience. Painting, for me, is about the active engagement of placing oneself in the state of being in order to see things in a beautiful way. A good painting stimulates and encourages the viewer to enter into this mode of seeing beauty. My aim is to have an observer enter into their own sense of wonder relative to what I was experiencing while creating the painting and to remember that sense of wonder in daily life.

Discovery

Discovery: the process of de-covering or revealing what was previously hidden. I find the practice of discovery entails connecting to an appreciation of beauty that we normally cover or gloss over in our day-to-day activities. Painting can be used as a means of practicing discovery, of seeing and connecting to an incredible, alternative view of the world. Approached in this way, I find painting clears the mind to see the beauty that is already there.

Serenity

Serenity is a state of being that is unaffected by disturbance. It is calm, unclouded, clear. In order to paint well, I believe it is necessary to look intently. By doing so, our preconceived ideas of what we are seeing are left behind and the mind is quieted. We discover beauty — serenity unfolds.