Scholastic Artist Statement

The fundamental description of my work in my own words is storytelling, illustrating stories that have a different view of the world. All stories have been told before but it is all in the way the author delivers the plot in their own way that makes them original. I am always thinking of classic stories and what I could do to make them original. This is what I concentrate on every day. I concentrate on how I can create that story just with my own individual twist. Either that story is of the classic good and evil or of regret of experiences missed by someone. I leave things open ended for my viewers to see their own story, creating characters that present both a piece of me and also the viewers own individuality. This goal of creating stories primarily comes from my love literature but also comes from my interest in creating real stories with real people and experiences. Sometimes I illustrate local people and scenes, but I take a more in-depth look at these people or incidents. All these can be found in mundane places in our lives, but present a new view or different side of a story. With these in-depth looks, the subjects incorporated are not just mundane things; they delve deeper into the human spirit and what we endure as humans.
I chose these artworks because they display my use of technique, color, composition, and my goal of storytelling. These works as a whole represent my local surroundings through buildings and settings while introducing interesting subjects to my viewers. The works display characters such as the classic beauty, the renegade sheriff, and the reflective young man. These are the characters I want my viewers to connect with in their own experiences. With the works comes a sense of the past through settings and characters telling the stories I convey and depict a different time from our present. In these works, it displays that I choose to create artwork in this unique style, not because I lack technique. This shows my originality and allows my viewers to ponder on the message I am trying to convey and what they will decide on through their own experiences.
Art is everywhere for me, but I find myself being thorough with what I decide on for my own pieces. Most artwork I come across does not portray my style or the mood I want to convey to viewers. My ideas mostly come just from me driving around in my car observing everything I can. I observe and experience in my town or on road trips, trying to create my style and create connections with my viewers and the past. Whatever I incorporate in a work is how I see those people or things. I try to perceive things differently than just the first interpretation and bring a cinematic mood to my works. For example, color is strong throughout my works. Each piece is individual and original, but together they are connected through the repetition of unexpected colors that bring a heightened sense of reality. When I can, I bring humor into the work itself or in the title of the individual pieces. Art is what keeps me going in life and as much as I want to please my viewers, in the end all my original artwork is for me. I create stories for my own satisfaction, incorporating myself into that artwork with my memories and dreams. Whether my viewer agrees with the artwork or not, storytelling is an art in its self. I am just bringing my stories to the visual art world.