These are quite a departure from my usual subject matter of portraits and figurative work and favoured medium of oil.  I decided to do a series of still life and embrace the love/hate relationship I have with acrylics:  love that they dry so quickly; hate that they dry so quickly.

As I do with most of my work, I am always seeking new combinations of colors and forms which satisfy me.  There is a tension and energy between what I have before me—a setup, for example, of coffee mugs—and what I have in my head of those same objects, mostly having to do with the color relationships that will create a new way of seeing the subjects being painted.  I am fascinated by the appeal of pattern in art and found it interesting in the artworks included here to find a way to incorporate different repeated decorative designs without having them take away from the main focus of the painting.  But it is always evolving and changing.  My intention with the floral bouquet was also to add a design in the background, but during the painting process the dark indigo background begged for me to allow it to remain and contrast beautifully under the hues of the flowers.

"In the creative act, the artist goes from intention to realization through a chain of totally subjective reactions." Marcel Duchamp