Silence Between The Sounds Artist's Statement:

How does one sum up a series of paintings?  What’s the common thread?  For me, it’s not the completed painting itself but the state achieved during the process of creation.

Some people call it “being in the zone.”  Some call it “being in the groove.”  And, more recently, people are calling it “being in the vortex.”  It’s a state of timelessness, of gentle euphoric bliss.  My paintings all flowed from this spiritual practice.  They’re the result of attaining a meditative state of being in a space where time ceases to exist, when the ego ceases to prod and pester, when I simply “am” in the state of creativity. 

Everyone has experienced this, but we all find our peace in different moments.   Some choose to experience it through our work daily, and some of us choose to experience it once a year. 

Athletes find it when they are in the midst of the game, while purely acting and reacting to the players around them.  Their ego ceases to exist.  They are in the zone. 

Writers find it when they get lost in the words that flow from their minds to their fingertips.  Programmers find it when they discover that hours upon hours have slipped by as they create new code.  It’s that silence between the sounds.

I find it when I stand before the canvas and purely act and react with the brush, the paint, the canvas.  I get lost in the viscosity of the paint, and the texture of the canvas or board.  I become absorbed as color reacts to color. I lose track of time and my most successful endeavors don’t always create a beautiful piece of art, but they do bring me my own sense of connection … an ability to enter and maintain this sense of being in the vortex. 

My paintings are merely the result of this meditative practice.  I measure my success in the moments of creation, not the final product.  Each and every painting in this exhibition is the result of my efforts to raise my vibration, to get into and stay within the vortex.  With each painting I began by relaxing myself into a positive state and letting my inspiration flow.

I implore you to find these moments of being in the vortex in your daily life.  What action, what passion, what process brings you this state?   Is it a reflective moment drinking a cup of coffee in the garden?  Does it arrive when washing dishes or mowing the lawn? Don’t try to force the moments, but let yourself gently fall within them.

Ideally, as you examine these works of art, on some level you’ll feel the connection the artist had during their creation.  As you take a moment to stop and reflect on each painting, what do you feel?  Let my paintings be measured by their emotional content.  Or perhaps let them not be measured at all.  Perhaps it’s about discovering the joy to simply … be.