I grew up in an era of experimentation.  In a culture that was celebrating it - the USA of the 1970s and 1980s.  Because of that I often learned more about the innovators standing on the shoulders of masters than I ever did of any master.  I read Wide Sargasso Sea before Jane Eyre.  Kate Bush introduced me to Wuthering Heights.  The Wooster Group is how I knew The Crucible and I knew much more of Sue Coe and Andy Warhol than I did of Da Vinci and Caravaggio (who I learned about from Derek Jarman). I loved these artists and I wanted to be like them.  

When I was about 15 I did my own experimenting.  I painted murky oil paintings and drew odd, irregular faces.  I had no skill but I thought I was cool. But then I began to question whether I could draw a realistic face and body.  I found I could not.  I was a teenager and because I couldn’t just pick up a pencil and draw well, I decided I never would be able to.  I stopped painting and drawing and told everyone who asked I couldn’t draw.  I didn’t try to draw or paint for 30 years. 

Now it’s reversed.  I feel comfortable with traditional drawing but a little less so experimenting again.  Here are some pieces that are me trying to push the envelope a little for my own growth. Some I am very happy with.