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The Crossroads Art Center has included information about artists in residence on this page. You may click on an image of the art work to enlarge it.

Jennifer Risley

Jennifer Risley, a Memphis native newly settled in Richmond, is a young, up-and-coming photographer specializing in black and white prints. Traveling extensively over the past few years, she has developed a varied portfolio ranging from sweeping landscapes and fine architectural details to street scenes that capture the unique urban personalities of cities such as Paris, Venice, San Francisco, Memphis, and New York. Jennifer usually prefers the simplicity and elegance of black and white, choosing to focus on unusual perspectives and interesting contrasts. Her images have been featured in promotional brochures and websites, alumni magazines, yearbooks, CD artwork, and even on bicycle jerseys. Jennifer’s photographs are on display throughout the Southeast, including at Crossroads Gallery in Richmond.

You may visit Jennifer Risley Fine Art Photography at www.jenniferrisley.smugmug.com.

Christaphora Robeers

”MORE ALIVE THEN STILL ALIVE”

ARTIST STATEMENT

I came to the United States as an immigrant from the Netherlands in 1956. Europe was still recovering from World War II. Many families immigrated to the United States or Canada to get away from the bombed-out ruins, the lack of jobs, meager food supplies and of course the horrible memories of war. My family was fortunate to come to rural town in Virginia were life was filled with abundance. Everything was so new and exciting. Life was simple but very good.

I was ten years old and my art career was already four years old. Since art supplies were expensive and a car was a priority in America, I invented my own art materials. I used the pine needles that fell near the pond to do "earth drawings"Š. I used old newspapers and pieces of charcoal from the wood-burning stove to do “charcoal drawings.” There was never any question as to my dedication to becoming a painter. After all, I came from a country that is known as “the land of painters.”

My painting dialogue has always concentrated on color. Color is light and light represents and supports life. The subject matter in my paintings seems simple and humble at first glance. But are they really??? They are a spiritual memory of the past and of the future. Once it was a great treasured gift to take a whole apple to school for my lunch. My mother had told me countless stories of how she ate tulip bulbs to keep her alive during the war. Pieces of glass and pottery appear in my paintings.

Once I used to go with my father to the bombed-out ruins to find chards of old tiles, porcelain, pottery or glassware. I realized very early on that one¹s heritage and roots are deeply embedded in everyday functions. It is an intense journey to encounter the simple and to make it complex. I explore what I see and experience within myself. I embrace the visual process and walk on the edge of a different reality with courage and conviction that I will return from my journey a richer human being and perhaps a painter with something to say.

For more information and photots go to www.ezairgallery.com/Christaphora_Robeers.html

Jim Roberts

I have been involved in photography since I was in high school, but got away from it during college. My interest was renewed while I was working with a local high school band and serving as their photographer/ historian for six years.

Later I started photographing lighthouses and soon developed an interest in older buildings, such as old barns, grocery stores and service stations that were rapidly disappearing from the landscape.

I have studied photographic techniques with several nationally known photographers, such as: James Porto of New York Times Magazine & *Rolling Stone Magazine, Moose Peterson of National Geographic, Reed Hoffmann, Director of Education and Training, Blue Pixel Inc and Photographer for Popular Photography, National Geographic and other Magazines.

My intent is to present quality photographs that take the viewer to a place with which they can identify; a fond memory of a location, a person, or a little piece of history that was forgotten but now is recalled.

A photograph should have the power to stimulate memories and a feeling of comfort and happiness.

The location of the photograph is less important than the image it creates, and the memories it generates.

It should tell a story, not only to the photographer, but to the viewer.

Robin Ryder

My artwork is a reflection of my experiences traveling through Peru, India, Mexico and the US while working as an archaeologist and anthropologist in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. For a number of years I focused on sculpture, drawing and painting using non-traditional materials such as animal skulls, cake icing, layered photographs, and found supports in addition to more traditional materials. These works focused on the material world that surrounds us and they often had content representing social themes such as gender-stereotyping or the violence that occurred in Peru as a result of the activities of Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) and the government’s brutal crackdown in the Ayacucho Department where I had lived and worked for a time.

Many of the earlier paintings juxtaposed traditional painterly concerns about the picture plane, materials, line, and so forth with the postmodern concern for content. As a result, many consisted of abstract geometric images which divided the work, or fractured the picture plane when seen from a distance, but which contained content when viewed from a closer perspective. Some challenged the notion of a flat, static picture plane by turning corners and being structured in a modular fashion so they could be put together in a number of different configurations, lending a sculptural aspect to what would traditionally have been two-dimensional works.

As an anthropologist, thus a student of people and material culture, I have always been interested in how/why we assign value to certain objects. For me, objects that are well worn, or perhaps in various stages of decay hold intrinsic worth and beauty in the information they may contain and the history they exude. Another person may find that same object worthless, even disgustingly ugly. As an exploration of this duality I created a series of sculptures which consisted of animal skulls decorated with cake icing so that they took on the appearance of more conventional beautiful (and tasty) objects.

In the 1990s I became interested in creating smaller, more intimate and portable pieces. As an archaeologist I have always been drawn to the visual and tactile qualities of the small fragments of objects which we recover from archaeological sites, whether a sea tumbled shard of once fine china recovered from a shipwreck site, or a clay marble left behind by an 18th century child. These things have an embedded history that gives them content beyond their materials and they wear that history on their worn surfaces. I began making jewelry to satisfy my desire to produce smaller yet still sculptural pieces. These are influenced by and sometimes allude directly to ancient textile, metalwork and stonesetting techniques. Some pieces exaggerated or challenged traditional construction techniques (such as prong settings) used by jewelers, in much the same way that my corner paintings from the 1980s challenged the two-dimensionality of paintings.

The paintings that I have recently been producing follow from the threads mentioned above and in some cases grow directly out of those concerns. For example, the Summer Reading series paintings consists of a series of paintings titled after books which I read and they express my visual reaction to the social commentary and ideas presented in the books. My Mesa Verde shadow paintings use layering of color to create a sense of the solidity and depth of the ruins to contrast with the shadowy figure which transparently overlays them. This contrast expresses the timelessness of the ruins and their physical endurance in opposition to the ephemeral, shadowy nature of the humans who made them and the modern day person who is actively contemplating them. My teapot paintings are about formal art concerns, specifically about color, shape, and the play between foreground and background/flatness of the picture plane-that is the teapots and their shadows, but they are also expressive of my joyful, humorous take on the everyday material objects which fill up our lives as indicated by the use of color and the animated cartoon like quality of the teapots and their shadows.

Anne Sampson

Painting is truly magical. It allows me to share meaningful moments in my life and to tell, without words, treasured stories of my family and my travels halfway around the world. Oils are my medium of choice, and I concentrate on composition and light. I want my paintings to sparkle; I play my shapes like pieces of a puzzle. Yet, painting is much more than a means of expression. It is my best friend.

Paul E. Savas

Abstract Expressionisim
Paintings of Paul E. Savas
Paul E. Savas, M.D. is a local artist and a practicing spine surgeon in Williamsburg. "Painting is particulary relaxing for me. Various principles of surgery apply to painting However, especially with abstract expressionistic style painting, unlike surgery, the spontaneous randomness and interpretation of the painting create a vitality and inspiration."

Paul studied Art and Drawing and Painting under Del Ray Loven and the late Ruth Brooks. He also attended the School for gifted artists at C.W. Post, Long Island University in New York.

"My hope is that my paintings inspire others as they inspire me"

Paul takes commissions by contacting photogg@pacificwest.com. You may visit his website at http://thecolorbox1.weebly.com.

Bart Schultz

Bart Schultz is a self-taught contemoprary artist residing in Richmond, Virginia. A native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Schultz comes from a family of talented writers, musicians, painters and folk artists and attributes his inspiration and love of American Folk Art to his rich, Pennsylvania German roots.

Schultz's past stints as a private investigator, catering and event planner and house-flipper are as diverse as his evolving portfolio which has touched on a variety of forms over the last 25 years. His work has included hand-painted found object furniture, figures and decorative objects, hand-cut linoleum block prints, clothing on canvas and Tramp Art, a late 19th century carving and layering technique used to embellish decorative and utilitarian household items.

Now, at age 47, he's found his calling in a roll of masking tape and spends his days obsessively twisting and manipulating yard after yard into his signature creations. He hand-paints, signs and dates each piece, and each is numbered, photographed and catalogued. Bart's subjects range from old to new, fiction to non, and known to unknown, each with a distinctive style that is full of Southern folk flavor with a fresh, urban-contemporary twist. In addition to Crossroads Art Center in Richmond, Bart's work is featured each year at The Slotin Folk Fest in Atlanta, GA and The Fearrington Village Folk Art Show near Chapel Hill, NC.

Bart's artist statement: "I make stuff out of tape."

Website: www.maskingtapeguy.com.

Iris Sheppard

A native of Richmond whose father was a mechanical engineer at American Tobacco, and mother a graduate of the Medical College of VA School of Nursing. Both parents were first of their generation to leave Tobacco farming. Iris, graduated from Stuart Circle School of Nursing, married, raised her children and while working the graveyard shift at Reynolds Metal Co went to VCU. majoring in Painting, Printmaking and Sculpture.

Her love of travel has taken her on painting excursions to England, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Peru, Mexico and Honduras.

Her work has been shown in France and Scotland as well as VCU, Virginias Museum Studio Gallery, Reynolds Metals,

Shockoe Bottom Art Center and was most recently in a group show with Richmond Metropolitan Artist Association at the

Crossroads Art Center. Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne and Van Gogh are just a few of her all time favorite artists. In this interview she quoted Joseph Solman, "the subject yields more pattern, more poetry, more drama, greater abstract design and tension than any shapes we may invent".

Currently as a student of Christapfoora Robeers new color Juxtapositions have begun to show up in her work.

Lois Shipley

Having lived in rural Virginia my entire adult life, I find most of my inspiration for paintings comes from driving down a country road!

Most of my paintings seem to reveal that a landscape was touched by man or that man’s work is touched by Mother Nature, if only a dirt road carving its way through a field or forest. Inspired by sunny days, the light catches the details of trees or buildings and casts shadows against vibrant colors. A building, abandoned or no longer maintained, returns to earth’s elements. A patina of a steel door, aged wooden siding on an old barn, or a rusting tin roof takes on a beauty that only nature can create.

Recently I have been intrigued with recreating this effect on canvas with the use of paints, glazes and textures, and it has taken me in a different, slightly abstract direction that I find exciting and rewarding, because it’s not so much “just a pretty picture,” but, hopefully, evokes a unique personal response from the viewer.

You may visit the artist's website at www.loisshipleyfineart.embarqspace.com.

Kay Shuster

"Why I became an Artist"

I have always had a great love for art and the expression of art. On 1995, my 27 year-old son was murdered and I developed a fear of losing his image and the sound of his voice. I did not get to say goodbye and I wanted a portrait, not of his face, but of his soul, who he was. I began by attending John Tyler Community College, tried several mediums and fell in love with oils. I have worked non-stop with different art teachers and completed a number of workshops with an end goal of doing portraits. From this, and being a member of the Richmond Metropolitan Art Association, I have developed real friendships with many talented artists and enjoy our shared love for art.

I was raised on a farm in Ohio and loved animals so as I have walked through this art journey I have found a real love of painting all animals, especially ones from my youth, I want each animal to have its own personality and an attitude showing from the canvas, I sometimes think of a person then paint their attitude in the animal.

I have painted my son at different ages of his life, never losing sight of his final picture, and I have never forgotten the sound of his voice.

Ken Smiegowski

Kenneth Smiegowski of Kenneth Smiegowski Studios LLC has been a painter and/or fine art photographer for over forty years.

He studied painting and commercial art at the American Academy of Art in Chicago and served a two year painting apprenticeship with Iwan Lotton, a prominent Chicago area artist.

Ken’s oil paintings are held in private and corporate collections. He has worked with and sold photography in 35 mm, medium format, 4x5 and digital

His photographs have appeared in calendars, post cards, coffee mugs, tee-shirts, prints, and guide books in the Grand Canyon National Park, Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Badlands National Park, Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Smoky Mountains National Park, Zion National Park, Capital Reef National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Custer State Park, Black Hills National Forest, and Devils Tower National Monument.

Ken’s images have appeared in Sierra Club Magazine and its calendars and datebooks, Audubon field guides, Wisconsin Trails Magazine and their calendars and giftware, Lake Superior Magazine and their calendars and giftware, Blue Ridge Country Magazine, Impact Graphics products, Landmark Graphics products, Northwood Press Books and other assorted regional magazines and trade publications.

Ken has lectured at and taught not-for-credit classes (before digital) in nature photography and macro photography at the College of Lake County in suburban Chicago.

Kenneth Smiegowski’s background as a classical oil painter show in his use of color, composition and light. His fusion of painter and photographer create works not typical of either discipline separately. The digital photographer side brings the detail and clarity, while the painter side brings the soul and mood.

Ken has numerous collectors who claim to see the painter in him come thru in his photographic art. He hopes you too will join the growing list of informed and enthusiastic buyers who look for, and are collecting his amazing work. His work can be viewed at the Crossroads Art Center in Richmond Virginia or on his website www.kensphotographs.com.

Gary Sobel

Every time I get a chance to remember my grandfather, it brings a smile to my face. He was a God fearing, stern and honest man. My parents divorced when I was seven and I was sent to live with my grandparents. My grandparents raised me, giving me a life of good morals, responsibilities, and teaching me respect. My grandparents were both immigrants from Germany, and my grandfather was the blacksmith in the family.

I would watch him turn steel in our backyard from a forge. I wonder if anyone knows a blacksmith these days, it’s all a lost art. My grandfather told me that if you learn a trade, you will also be needed. No one can ever take a trade from you, which brings us back to my lure:

“Directions for Large Lure”

It starts with a drawing, then measured for length and you cut the steel to make the hooks. The hooks are two different sizes, two are 10”, and one is 20 ¾”, the 20 ¾” makes the teardrop. Before heating, the barb has to be added by welding, and hammered on an anvil, to give the shape.

All the steel is ¼ round rod, and has to be heated in a forge to be turned in a gig, copied from the drawing. On the long hook, the end has to be wrapped around the 1” piece of round rod, then joined by the other two short hooks, and tacked on three sides, and welded. Then I take a ¼” round rod, heat in the forge, and wrap a 2’ length around a 1” round rod, 1’long. I then cut all coils to make the rings that will hold the hooks to the eye bolts with a torch opening and closing the ring, connecting the treble hook to the eye bolt, cleaning all the hardware. Hardware is hand made, not made in China.

The wood was cut from a 5 – 6” diameter pine stock 12” long, cut to 2’ lengths, then turned on a lathe. It is then notched to make the dipper face. As it dries, it will tend to crack, these cracks have to be filled and sanded.

Once this is done, it is primed and hand-sanded to ensure that it’s sealed and smooth. A second coat of primer is then applied. Now I begin to tape and paint colors, two coats of each, and hang to dry. Then I make the eyes from a six inch skulidel 10 black pipe. I’ve made a gig from steel to keep the same size diameter all the time. Using a torch, I cut two sizes, a 2 ½” for the eye and a 1” size for the pupil.

Then they go to a stone grinding to take off any imperfection. Then I use a torch to blow a hole into the middle of the 2 ½” piece. When centered, I weld them together, and a sixteen penny nail is welded to the back of the eye in a gig to make sure it will drive in straight, then cut in half and sharpened to a dull point so that it will not split the wood when hammered. I then tape and paint, and pre-drill the holes on the body of the lure to allow the nail for the eyes, and threads for the eye bolts holding the hooks.

All done by me, Gary Sobel

Inge Strack

My paintings consist of bold colors and a deep sense of emotion. I often paint with a limited palette, rather focusing on brushstrokes, texture and form to find a balance. I am drawn to the drama and the pain connecting us all in our humanity and strive to create beauty out of the most difficult circumstances.

I am not attempting to abstract the physical world; I am trying to get to the person behind the mask. Edvard Munch said: “Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye. It also includes the inner pictures of the soul.” I draw my subject matter from inside of myself hoping to create a constant conversation between the viewer and the painting, especially since abstracts do not seem to answer but ask.

My work combines my European past and my American present. My paintings are upbeat and symbolize the strength and positive attitude that are part of the American spirit and therefore part of my newfound life in the United States. My passion for bold colors comes from a group of artists called “The Blue Rider” of the 1920s, especially Franz Marc; other influences are American artists Mark Rothko and Wolf Kahn. My paintings are included in private collections in the United States and Europe. I am represented by Alex Gallery in Washington D.C., as well as by 1212 Gallery, Judy Newcomb Gallery and I am a member of Artspace Gallery, all in Richmond, VA.

Visit the artist website at www.abstrackart.com

Susan Stuller

"My Artwork expresses my desire to take everyday subject matter and elevate them to a new life, either through vivid color or dramatic contrast. In doing so, I hope that people will become more aware of their surroundings. As the world changes so too will my paintings, and the subjects I paint. Therefore I am only limited by the size of my paper or canvas and my imagination."

Susan’s talent and skill emphasize rich color and vibrant imagination. She has been the recipient of many awards locally as well as nationally. She is a signature member of The National Watercolor Society, Baltimore Watercolor Society, Southern Watercolor Society, Missouri Watercolor Society, Texas Watercolor Society, Virginia Watercolor Society, Watercolor West and Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club in New York City. You can view more of her work and awards at www.susanstuller.com.

Her work can be found in over 30 corporate collections as well as private collections in the United States. She also has paintings in North Light Book’s Splash 10: Passionate Brushstrokes and the soon to be released Splash 11: New Directions.

Susan has been an art instructor for over 20 years. She teaches 4 mixed media painting classes a week at Crossroads Art Center. She also teaches workshops locally as well as nationally.

Anne Sylvest

Biography
Born and raised in the Shenandoah Valley, Anne Sylvest was imprinted early in life with the beauty of the mountains, the valley, the fields and the undulating river. These impressions and memories have greatly influenced her painting.

Moving to the Richmond area as a young adult, she continued to paint over the years with periods of time being shared in the interests of schooling, mothering four children, nursing education and practice and, with her husband, the establishing of a holistic health care center in 1988 where she served as administrator until March, 1990, at which time she left the position to return to her studio on a full-time basis.

There were times - sometimes years - due to circumstances, that the artist was unable to paint. But as painting is a mental and spiritual, as well as physical activity, visualization continued on those levels throughout any non-painting period so that when brushes and colors were again taken up it was as if she had never laid them down. The “affliction” seemed to be a progressive condition.

In the unfolding of her life, the experiences brought to the artist have been witnessed to and recorded in her work.

David Tanner

David Tanner is a portrait and figurative painter based in Richmond, Virginia. Since receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1991, Tanner has received portrait commissions throughout the Eastern United States. His focus on commercial illustration during his university training later transformed to a fine arts focus, specializing in oil portraiture and paintings of the human figure.

An experienced instructor, Tanner teaches drawing and painting at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Studio School and The Hand Workshop Art Center. Tanner is currently an Artist-in-Residence with the Virginia Museum’s Statewide Partnership Program, instructing portraiture workshops throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.

David Tanner Tanner is an active member of The Portrait Society of America and The American Society for Classical Realism. Whether painting traditional oil portraits, still-lifes, or creating unique figure studies celebrating the beauty of the human form, Tanner upholds the fine traditions of realist painters both past and present. His work can be seen at Crossroads Art Center in Richmond, Virginia, or at his personal studio; to make an appointment to visit the studio, please call (804) 938-4457. An online portfolio can be viewed at www.tannerportraits.com.

Bill Thomsen

My name is William Thomsen. I am a local, Richmond, metal sculpture artist. Being a native of Richmond and an avid sportsman, I have always had an appreciation of the outdoors. My goal is to bring part of the outdoors into my customer’s home or garden. My objective as an artist is to reproduce wildlife in its own habitat.

I offer a wide variety of sculptures and I am working on new ones all the time. If you have an idea for your own home, commissions are available.

Each sculpture is made from steel and designed to last a lifetime. Every piece is cut, shaped and welded by hand. A 4 foot stand is supplied with each statue. You simply hammer it into the ground where you want your statue to be. The statues themselves fit into the stands and they are all interchangeable. There is an optional indoor stand for indoor use as well.

Each sculpture is made by me one piece at a time. No two are exactly alike and all of them are signed and dated.

Visit Bill's website www.twinriversmetalart.com.

Kathrine Thomson

I discovered the trials, tribulations and rewards in working with pottery almost four years ago. The involvement of all of the senses when creating with clay is addictive to me, and, I expect, will continue to be so. From sometimes frustration, through elation, to creation of a piece either functional or simply decorative...I hope the journey never ends. There is such a similar process when working with precious metal clay, which I've been doing for almost two years. The scale is smaller, but still involves working with a medium completely malleable under your hands--as long as it's treated with respect. And the end result...pure silver adornment! What fun!
Please visit me on FLICKR to see my pottery pieces and silver jewelry.

Hildegarde Topazio

Gene Mason Toutsi

"I became interested in paper-cutting and cut paper as media in about 1980. I have studied the techniques and history of Polish, Swiss/German, and Oriental paper-cutting. I have also explored the art of cut paper by artists such as Matisse, Romare Bearden, and Eric Carle. Over the years it has become my passion and favorite media (for me) in the visual arts. I have learned from and honor traditions of other artists, but I have developed my own style and techniques. My greatest inspiration is nature. Animals, especially, stimulate some of my favorite subjects for my cut paper pictures."
Gene Mason Toutsi

Patricia A. Trgina

A friend introduced me to painting about six years ago and my goal is to continue taking classes and workshops so that I can complete works that not only will I enjoy painting, but which will also bring pleasure to others.

My paintings have been juried into many shows in Richmond and Petersburg, It has been displayed at Crossroads Art Center, Petersburg Regional Art Center, St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, King George County Art Fair, where I won a ribbon; and various venues with the Tuckahoe Artists Association. My work is also on display at the Artifacts Gallery in Lynchburg. I am delighted to say many of my paintings are now hanging in private homes.

I began painting classes with Carol Campbell, then took classes with Ann Chaddock Bolton I am currently attending classes by Christaphora Robeers

I am a member of the Bon Air Artists Association and the Tuckahoe Arts Association (Recording Secretary 04-05).

Visit the artist's website at http://tinyurl.com/WNPGPat.

Nancy Tucker

As long as I can remember I have always loved drawing and painting, being outdoors, and animals. Consequently, my work is an outgrowth of these interests, and I hope to create in my audience an appreciation of the same. I am particularly sensitive to the effects of ever changing light as it illuminates my surroundings throughout the changing seasons. My love of living in a rural setting is reflected in my work, which is usually begun en plein air and using my own photographs as a reference for creative interpretation. My goal is to express an emotional response that will draw in the viewer to react with his or her own subjective feelings. As a result, I hope the viewer will become more aware and responsive to the changing light patterns in his or her own environment – wherever that may be.

Will Turner

I’ve been painting for about 10 years. During much of that time, my approach was to paint representationally. In other words, I painted things the way I saw them although I avoided being too tight in my interpretation on the canvas.

I have to admit, until recently, I was never a fan of abstract paintings. I found it difficult to appreciate the talent or comprehend the hidden meaning the artist buried in the canvas. That all changed for me a couple of years ago.

It was actually a fortuitous accident that sent me down my path toward abstraction. I was painting a landscape and was not happy with the product of my work. So I started wielding my brush and vigorously slapping on paint to cover up my disappointment. And as I did, something interesting started to emerge. I continued down this new and once forbidden path and found myself delighted with the discovery.

As I experimented further with more and more paintings, I started to view abstracts in a whole new light. Eventually, I realized that an abstract painting doesn’t have to have some deeper esoteric meaning. In fact, my view is much simpler. It is all about the emotional response a work creates in the viewer.

To me, a particular painting works when you connect with it. Sometimes you can be drawn in by the depth or the colors, other times you can find the shapes or textures appealing. Whatever it is, the painting gives you a reason to stare for more than a fleeting moment. The connection is usually instantaneous. It happens or it doesn’t and it’s different for everyone.

So when asked what my paintings mean, I find myself stumped for a proper answer. They are not meant to mean anything. If they are successful, they grab you. It can be a bold yank or a gentle tug. They may evoke a smile or a pause. But if they work, they connect with you at some emotional level and give you whatever you need or are open to get from them.

As an artist, I enjoy getting lost in the process of creating; taking twists and turns that inevitably lead me down a path. I don’t take my strokes and marks on the canvas too seriously. If I did, I’d be afraid to push the painting to a new and often unexpected place.

While I usually have an idea or image in mind when I start a painting, I rarely end up with a work that matches my original vision. In most of my abstracts, I use a palette knife as my primary tool. I’ve found that using a palette knife, instead of a brush, is very liberating. Freed from a need to duplicate an image, it has allowed me to be bolder and less inhibited in my paintings.

Please visit the artist's website at willturnerart.artspan.com