“Fake Flowers and A Wooden Bowl” is an original painting in acrylic with some other stuff mixed in and is part of my “Stories Tell Stories” series.   Edwin had been sent to the liquor store by his wife, Amy, to get a couple of expensive-looking bottles of wine. She was entertaining some ladies from the neighborhood later that evening and wanted to impress. Edwin knew he’d be locked in the bedroom for the night so he picked up a few beers too. As he was walking back home, Edwin noticed a bag in the ditch. It wasn’t a trash bag but more like a shopping bag and there was something in it. After a slight pause and a look-around, Edwin stepped down into the ditch, pulled the bag up, and looked inside. A smile took over his face as he took sight of the bundle of fake flowers and a wooden bowl; he knew Amy would love them. Now Edwin wasn’t a thief, but he was a believer in good fortune, so after waiting there for just a few seconds in case anyone showed up to claim the bag, he hustled on home to surprise his wife. And love them, she did. She squealed with delight as she arranged them on the table. Edwin knew that Amy thought that those fake flowers and wooden bowls were really going to impress Amy’s lady friends even more than the expensive-looking bottles of wine.

The abstract/expressionistic art is constructed of layers of paint and other mediums. Texture is added or created by scraping, scratching, layering, and using anything I can find to add or remove paint. One of my favorite tools is a kitchen fork so you can usually find a spot on every painting where a fork has been drug through the paint.

As a primarily self-taught artist, the meaning of most of my work comes from the act of creating it. It is the physical act of getting my hands dirty by applying paint and other materials to create an image that is full of energy, texture, and sometimes wonder. I try not to take myself or my paintings too seriously but I try to thank God every day for His creation and for the desire and ability to create.