I enjoy the freedom of sumi brushwork and pigmented ink in general. I have used this medium since my instruction with a master Chinese painter and a study trip to Japan in 2005. The application of this medium has worked well for me on durable watercolor boards. I have spent much time as an artist, especially at artist residencies, where I have been able to focus on the rich and rugged landscapes of Montana, Wyoming, and The Catskill Mountains in New York. Camping, drawing, observing carefully, painting, photographing, reading, traveling, about the ruggedness of these lands I have expressed in this series entitled “Inkworlds." The beauty of black and white tonality had been the mainstay of traditional and contemporary Asian painters. I love color, but there is an inheritant viseral beauty of ink which continues to amaze me.My great astonishment has been to have witnessed firsthand these vast landscapes which are geological wonders largely undisturbed by humankind. My experience of silence working on location was disturbed by occasional bird squawks, insects and the rustling surge of nearby streams .My hope is that this natural condition continues onward into the future with art as a visual testament to protect and preserve these vistas.
