ISLANDS

Nothing ceases to exist.

 

This new series of paintings is about memory. The memory of islands, yes, but also the memory of weather and light. Moments. The moment before and the moment after a storm or sunrise. The power of the ocean and the sky. And all that is between then and now. As these paintings proceed one by one they begin to take on a will of their own and evolve toward the basic elements of ocean and sky and that ever-present distant line we call the horizon. These paintings are not only about the solitude of islands but also about that beautiful blue horizon – the longing to be there – the yearning for solitude and the quiet to remember what was or what could have been (see A Little Island at right and Caribbean Morning and see more work under Paintings).​​

 

So many artists have influenced my work and sensibility, but probably none more than the ancient Japanese landscape artists. At the age of five I was taught to paint and draw by a Japanese artist and I knew even then I would also become an artist or better said, I think I realized I was born an artist. I lived in Japan from the age of five to seven and those memories of that little coastal fishing village have stayed with me and formed my way of seeing the world.

 

So, other than Japan, throughout my life I've lived in many places in the world like Germany, the South of Spain, and then a couple years in West Africa, and traveling across islands in the Pacific and Caribbean. I believe the experience of traveling and living in different countries and cultures, more than anything, has formed my sense of the world in general and landscape specifically - and my love of islands. And I'm sure traveling and living abroad led to my love of maps and my years as a map illustrator (see my Illustrated Maps portfolio).

 

As far as artistic influences, I must mention the American Tonalist painters Albert Pinkham Ryder and George Inness, and of course who has not been influenced by the great Vincent Van Gogh (both for his work and his life (see my tribute to him, Crows over Wheatfield in my oil portfolio. And for me, the one and only Francisco José de Goya's Black Paintings and his etchings of war. And the list could go on and on.

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So, after a long and happy life lived in paint I find myself still in love with the paint itself whether watercolor, acrylic or oil and whether it's representational or abstract. And still in love with all you artists out there that create your wonderful works, now and past, and more than ever still and always in love with the muse that shares my love of art, actually is my art and my heart, Christina Rosalia.