I begin each painting with the structure of a modernist grid. I keep the grid visible to varying degrees. From a postmodernist view, the grid serves as a metaphor for actual or imagined structures in life, for "givens." The paintings play with the grid: Sometimes they adhere to it, sometimes they resist it, sometimes they subvert it, and sometimes they are overwhelmed by it. The grid can represent language, culture, religion, and so forth. The elements within the grid can be seen as an individual‘s or community‘s response to imposed or accepted grids of life.
I view myself as an artist (one of my grids), but I am happy to make a living as an art educator (a different grid), and devote most of my expressive energy to writing and teaching. However, I have refined an art process to fit my chosen life-style. Because the paintings are small, I do not need a large studio space. Storage is not a problem. Water-based materials are easy to clean up. Acrylic and paper are friendly media and allow me to work at a comfortable pace. I work on the paintings for short amounts of time and do not need extensive periods of the day or the year to complete pieces. I make a mark and at a later time respond to it with another mark, and another, until I feel that the work is finished. I scan the finished (paper) paintings to make available computer inkjet prints of varying sizes. I have chosen to paint for personal pleasure, and I have not entered the fray of the art market.
