Images are primal. Words can never convey the real power a picture conveys. They seem inadequate to express that which really matters.  We dream in images and our memories are captured through images, word pictures were our first form of communication.  The old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” rings true today.

As a painter my focus has always been people; people rushing to and fro, people laughing crying dancing, working. A man playing a trombone in a subway station, hat on the ground, playing for his dinner: a certain light on a woman’s face as she counts out my change at a supermarket- all these and more appeal to me.  I must paint them!

Portraits as well are intriguing.  The face renders the story of a persons life- an arched eyebrow, a sagging mouth, a curve of the neck- all are  there for the painter tp behold.  Skill, respect, empathy and humility are  necessary to convey that person’s tale in paint.  When I begin a painting, I only hope that I’m worthy and skillful enough to tell that tale.