Paintings

My gouache paintings (a kind of opaque watercolor similar to tempera paint) are done on watercolor paper using a wide range of brilliant color and themes from everyday life, stories, myths, and world literature. I have always been interested in illustration, and I love the “Naif” style of art popular in Eastern Europe and rural China. I have joined an international group of Naive painters who market their work all over the world. Although I do have art training, and so am not “untaught” as many Naif artists are, I find inspiration in the bright colors used in the genre. I love the look of illuminated manuscripts and of Persian miniatures. I find ideas in things that I see every day, and also especially from color- bright colors always are appealing to me. In the last few years I lived in Beijing China, for a while, and have stayed for a while in a town called Pecs in southern Hungary and in Vietnam- all of these places are full of vibrant color and activity and interesting architecture that have been the source of many ideas for paintings. In China I especially liked the style of gouache painting done by rural people- taught the craft by an artist from the city- and which is now a lucrative tourist craft for many people who have a hard time making extra money. I like the flat matte surface of gouache painting, and although it can be a somewhat tricky medium, I think that the matte texture and fineness of detail are worth the trouble. Some of my newer paintings combine gouache with aquarelle, adding another layer of color and texture, and sometimes I have using the medieval technique of painting with glair, or purified egg white, which adds a great deal of permanence to the paint.