Why do art?



What is the significance of a painting on the wall? Why look at it? Why buy it? Because it goes with your furniture? Or is there something more to it? Why are you attracted to it?



I've been doing art for most of my life. To me, it's natural. It's not always easy. I've been privileged to get a good art education. After many years of struggle, I've earned my MFA at Eastern Michigan University. I eventually taught there as well. What started out as a longing became a focus. By studying the work of other artists, and being exposed to that world, I've been able over the years to show my work in galleries and at shows.



Making art requires balancing just the right amount of stimulation and isolation. I'm fortunate to have a studio in my home. Part of making art involves transforming an ordinary object into something extraordinary or giving it significance, conferring a kind of immortality on the object. Stopping time if you will. There is a great deal of competition for visual recognition in today's world.



Recently, I visited someone I love in the hospital. As I walked down corridors of medical apparatus I was struck by how important it is to look at a piece of art. Momentarily, you are transported into a different reality, and are struck by a color, or shape. This gives a humanness to the situation. We make art because we are human, and because we want to connect with possibilities beyond the inevitable.



I love to explore junkyards containing discarded pieces of machinery. There's a certain poignancy as well as a beauty in rust, a mysterious quality inherent in a post-industrial culture. What do they signify? Objects that have been forgotten and abandoned; but can have new meaning.



I do art because I can't help doing it. I want something that is a little bit beyond the every day reality. Maybe a glimpse of the immortality that resides in all of us.