I’m a painter   Sometimes with Oil.  Sometimes watercolor.  And on occasion ink and markers.  The subjects are almost always people.  And with my Art, extracting a person from the crowd and creating some sort of story or mood has always been the goal.  When I began….. the references were usually from one of my own street photographs.  Paintings of people I didn’t, and would almost certainly never meet, or get to know.  So, with those images I’m forced to create my own sense of who they might be, or what they might be experiencing at the time.  However, as I got more involved with social media (Instagram, in particular) and found willing subjects, many of those faces became real people to me.  And while I didn’t really know them in the beginning, I’d at least have some idea of how they wanted themselves projected.  Their own STORY, if you will.

All that said, I’m still able to find stories hidden within my own “street” photographs, but have become far more reliant on the people I’ve met in the world of Social Media.  Most of them, just in passing, but a few, having a deeper understanding of them as individuals.  Acquaintances.  And yes, sometimes friends.

The larger question is, what comes next? What does the future hold?

Well, I’d like to look at my future work and recognize specific moods and emotions. Especially the subtle ones. Maybe find a story….. blink my eyes and then another. But most of all, I’d like to see evidence of skill….. of progress….. and certainly good choices. And when others see the work, I’d hope they’d say “what an interesting piece.”; walk up a bit closer, linger a bit, and say, “who is this guy?”