I am messing around with old Civil War photos. Converting them into collages and perhaps later into larger paintings. Its a fun thing to work on while baby sitting Maisy during the holidays and I hope to have enough for a large body of work to later show and sell.

My work is moving forward faster than I can paint. As always it comes back around to Picasso, he is the Beatles of visual art, everything begins and ends and is influenced one way or another by Picasso. I must admit that I have never been a huge fan of his work, but I just picked up Gertrude Steins book on him and realized that some of his cubist collage paintings fit perfectly into what I am doing with paint and paper. I think it would be fun to do a series based directly off some of his work during that period. I can see using his design and my techniques to create some interesting paintings. The thing I like most about Picasso is his diversity, the man was always evolving. I think we were steered wrong by the abstract expressionists "signature style" thing. We should be creating all kinds of work, always evolving and producing lots and lots of art styles.

I am painting houses and boats, the most cliche motifs in art history (besides the nude). It feels so right though, I have a secret fondness for Sol LeWitt, and art that is so simple that it is just right and conveys order and unity. I am not interested in preachy art or work that is too chaotic. I am using the most simple forms I can, a house, a boat, a tree, a cloud, simple scenes painted in a ridiculously complicated manor.

Check out my work at Bridge Art Fair in Miami with Ferrin Gallery

I have gone off the grid. This painting I have posted is an older piece, but can give you some idea of what happens when I go off grid. It happened a couple of months ago, I had just finished my third grid painting in a series and I started messing around with paper collages. Before I knew what was happening I had three finished pieces and two more in the works. Its always nerve racking when your work decides to go off the rails because your never quite sure if it taking you in the right direction. Not to mention everyone always likes the work that you "used to do" better than the work your currently making, It takes awhile to get people up to speed. Still, I am excited about this new stuff.