Vines and Branches

The bayou appeared in my work around 1999 at a time when I had fully embraced the fact that I was an artist and painting would be my life's work. (Before that time, I was working and doing other things to earn my living and survival was my priority rather than making art.) Then my career began taking a new direction and moving forward at a very rapid pace. I believe the early bayou paintings with their converging lines represents that forward movement with clarity of direction and the goal in the distance.

Currently the perspective in my work is changing...especially post Katrina but the water and moss are still present and still define the path for the viewer. These new multiple perspective paintings with Vines and Branches can be explored aerially, vertically, horizontally and one can also look down into the depth of the waters and transition behind veils and curtains of vines and branches. In some ways simpler ... in other ways more complex. I attribute these works to the change that took place within all of us post Katrina. We all began to look at things more closely and to examine things from all angles. In the early days post hurricane, the bare essentials were a main focus...water, clean clothes, food etc...These paintings pay more attention to details and the vines and branches or obstacles define our new path just like Katrina redefined many of our lives. The first painting of this series was called "Obstacles Define the Path."