Page 196 - musetouch

I enjoy the making of the art. I am fluent i n digital art, but I vastly prefer to play with the
colored goo. There is something supremely rewarding in being able to arrange a few simple
materials into a magical depiction of whatever I desire. It’s fun, and doesn’t require batteries!

What famous artists have influenced you, and how?

I love museums- The art of the ages, waiting there for all to see in the People’s Temple of
Art! All sorts of art appeals to me, and I am always up for a museum of gallery visit. I also
explore art on the internet, where I meet my contemporaries and see what they are creating.
So many influences….The first art I probably really looked at besides work by my Aunt and
Uncle might be covers on the “Saturday Evening Post” by Norman Rockwell in his heyday. I
also would study meticulously the illustrations in books- there were some really fine illustra-
tor back in those times. When I got a little older I lived near San Francisco, which has some
wonderful museums. San Francisco was also the home of the hippies and all things psyche-

delic. There were some amazing artists like Stanley Mouse and Rick Griffin making posters
that could be seen all around the city plastered to walls and telephone poles, just waiting to be
pulled down and taken home. I liked to collect these, and started making some of my own for
local rock and roll shows. I would look at all the underground newspapers that often had a lot
of art included in the mix. There was also a fancy magazine from New York that always had
some art features. This magazine, Avant Garde, prided itself on offering the best from the “un-
derground” in writing, poetry, art and photography. Between its’ covers I discovered the work
of artists like Ernst Fuchs, Mati Klarwein, Robert Venosa, De Es Schwartberger, and George
Tooker- artists I didn’t see in any of the other art magazines of the time. There is no one artist
that was my main influence. I learn something new every time I can see an excellent piece of
art in person.

What inspires you to create?

Magic. When you can take almost nothing, and make of it something beautiful that tells us
who we are, that’s magic. I am inspired by everything that happens to me! I think conscious-
ness swirls around us like a breeze- all the ideas and concepts that ever were are floating
around just waiting to be noticed and acted upon. I wish to take my favorites of these breezy
things and manifest them as pictures- for unknown reasons it is mysteriously important to
share the vision with everyone who cares to look. I think art has another magical property- it

can communicate across time-sometimes hundreds and thousands of years, and still touch us
both personal and universal levels.

What is the message of your paintings, and also your own personal message to the world?

It’s really all about love. Love of life, love of nature, love for the birds and the bees, love for
all creation- it’s so good, you just have to share! That’s the message. It’s hard to show in one
big picture, so I share it in smaller pieces, each emphasizing a theme pertaining to the whole.
There is an infinitude of ways to express this message, which is why we can all be artists! My
personal message? Let’s grow our world into a place where peace and justice prevail, where
folks treat each other with kindness, love and respect, where each person has the opportunity
to manifest their potential as a human being.

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