Statement

Portraits of familiar faces form the core of my practice, painted in the Alla Prima (wet-in-wet) style. Each work carries an unfinished quality, yet retains clarity without excessive precision. What now unfolds quickly on the surface is the result of years of practice. Releasing detail and embracing immediacy allows the painting to breathe; each stroke awakening the portrait, each layer inviting it into life.

Panels are hand made by me, in a two-week rhythm of craft and care. Belgian linen is mounted to ACM (aluminum composite material) panels, sealed with PVA (polyvinyl acetate) size, and layered with oil ground in successive stages of drying and refinement. Each surface is shaped slowly, until trimmed linen lies ready for paint. Produced in small batches, the panels offer a steady supply in varied sizes. Each one carries the promise of a picture not yet revealed.

Painting often begins with toning the linen or a few deliberate flashes of paint swept by a large brush. Backgrounds shift from quiet understatement to layered explorations, evoking an intimacy with nature that feels both profound and reverent. The land, water, and sky of Manitoulin Island carry echoes of history and here, cultures meet and mingle deeply in this ancestral home of the Anishinaabe. A harmony of influences together with acquired techniques shape the spirit of my paintings.

The figure is drawn with care, accuracy forming the foundation. Values are set, followed by block-in underpainting. From there, details emerge in chosen areas of focus, textures are refined, and light is gradually revealed. Inspiration often rises in the moments when form and color merge, and the portrait starts to quicken with presence. Completion arrives swiftly, sometimes unexpectedly, as if the painting itself whispers its readiness. This rhythm of stages enables movement with both confidence and freedom, knowing that the discipline invested at each step will yield its reward.

Study remains central, strengthened by the influence of painters whose vision reshaped portraiture. Richard Schmid inspires with his mastery of the Alla Prima tradition, where clarity and honesty of brushwork capture both form and spirit. Nicolai Fechin offers the vitality of expressive strokes with portraits alive with texture and rhythm. Quang Ho adds a philosophy of seeing, where abstract design underlies representation and the arrangement of light, shape, and space becomes as essential as likeness. Together, their examples encourage a practice that seeks not only accuracy, but vitality and presence.

Painting is a spiritual practice interwoven with prayer, meditation, and discipline. Composition, value, line, hue, and drawing reveal that portraiture extends beyond likeness or technical skill. It becomes a space where vision, gesture, and inner life converge, turning presence into form, and silence into color. This intimate connection between art and devotion has been beautifully expressed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who wrote:

“I rejoice to hear that thou takest pains with thine art, for in this wonderful new age, art is worship. The more thou strivest to perfect it, the closer wilt thou come to God. What bestowal could be greater than this, that one’s art should be even as the act of worshipping the Lord? That is to say, when thy fingers grasp the paintbrush, it is as if thou wert at prayer in the Temple.”