An over-arching uncertainty in the future can elicit a return to things familiar.

I embraced this prior to 2020. What drives me to create? Why do I turn to the past for inspiration? Why is the concept of “craftsmanship” part and parcel of what I do?

I refer to myself as a “Contemporary Op Artist” – which may be an oxymoron, much like Jumbo Shrimp or Business Ethics or Military Intelligence (acknowledgement to George Carlin.) My paintings are more than a style. More than color choices or the containers within which I place those colors. More than the perceptions that viewers experience when viewing my work.

It is the process – a hands-on process of creating. Craftsmanship requires direct involvement of the artist in the final product. Using human skills. Skills such as dexterity, patience, hand-eye coordination, failure, learning, repetition, experimentation in materials. Materials that are of this physical world. Not just algorithms floating in the ether.

I am not denigrating technology. In fact, I must say that I’m highly skilled at digital programs such as Photoshop. Digital design is often a preliminary step when developing my final output. In fact, I have dozens of digital creations that are printed using Giclee fine art printing technology.

Is computer production an end in itself? For me, no.

Artistic fulfillment is achieved for me when an inner vision directs my hands to evolve an idea into physical reality. Craftsmanship is a prerequisite. A painting is not a line of code, nor allowing a program to select and deliver a color through artificial intelligence. A vision of beauty in the mind is not enough. Realization of a concept becomes artistic accomplishment when a tangible “product” is brought to fruition through physical endeavor.

I am not suggesting that this concept applies to all artists. This is a basic tenet as it applies to my artistic expression. Craft is inextricable from creative output … for me.

What are some of the concepts of craft that are essential to my work?

• Color Mixing: it is one thing to envision the interaction of specific colors. It is another to bring those colors into the physical realm through the careful blends of pigments and ensuring they behave as you choose when applied to a palpable surface. I am first and foremost a colorist.

• Containers: the elemental decisions of line and form define the boundaries for my colors. I decide on placement, size, shape, repetition, overlaps, and more to ensure the colors achieve an envisioned conclusion with clarity and economy. These “containers” might relate to musical rhythm, from a slow waltz to the complex, rapid staccato of progressive jazz.

• Mathematics: visual arts and geometry are inseparable for my work – as they have been over the millennia. The eye absorbs the environment in terms of mathematics – how far or close, how high or low, how left or right, how dark or light. Shape, symmetry, and proportion are often synonymous with beauty and art.

• Color Application: in theory, I could create an initial creative vision on my computer with absolute perfection – not a stray line or observable brush stroke. However, I believe that evidence of the artist’s existence should be visible on the surface of a tangible work of art. But only to a point. There must be a sense of magic, a feeling of “how did you do that?” in the final product. That means a well-developed set of skills in the application of color and line. The more precise the execution, the higher degree of order and perfection that exists – while still displaying a painterly quality – then a greater level of success is achieved. Human nature desires a sense of orderliness, much like the way most people want to see a framed picture hanging straight on the wall, rather than tilted askew. I employ precise measurement, careful application of tape, and development of pigments and mediums that enable crisp “containers” of color.