The Glory Tree was the first drawing or the one that I discovered my "Squiggleism" style. The tree is bursting with light like celebrating a self discovery finally finding one's calling and destiny. The bright sun was to me the Divine. It's ribbons and streamers of light, those squiggles are made of the Divine's Essence.
This tree started my success and mission in life to remind people of the Divine. I've done over 800 landscapes I imagine. The squiggle style is kind of my trademark. But then, a few months ago, I saw this painting by W.M.Turner. It was bursting with raging light on sunrise. It was in a museusm during a Monte exhibit. There were no other paintings around. This painting had captured to me "The Sacred Fire". It was like the light from the burning bush. SInce that painting, I have sought after this light. I purposively made my canvas black, then in the background did clouds with this blinding light - this Sacred Fire of the Divine. I put a single tree in there to represent a person. Trees are like people. Roots are our feet. Arms are the branches. Plants grow toward the light as I think our very nautre does. I couldn't not capture this light with my squiggleism so I had to put that aside and go straight for this light. Even though I have no squiggles in the painting, I think there is still a connection between styles and that is the light. It is always the light. The trees reflect our lonely, isolated selfs pitted against storms and gloom, yet we reach out, we seek with our branches to touch this light, to be saved by it, to be brought into the light from the greatest darkness of all - death.
Now, I have had this yearning so long to do a painting of a beautiful woman. I've not done anything with portraits, one or two sooo very few. I love Klimt's swirls and geometric designs and the portraits of his women are to me the most beautiful of the world. I yearn so deeply to create such pieces. I want in my ladies' look, to feel their emotion, to express part of a story that the painting is told. For my models, I imagine I will give them story lines and have them turn into those trees of emotions. I think the trees are becoming my trademark.
I am working on some Klimt style paintings for some fashion shows I am the resident artist. I have some concern with my staff that with design paintings of women I am leaving my Divine Light paintings/style that I am known and could hurt me...But, I believe in beauty. I believe the Divine is love and from a man's perspective to look at a painting of a beautiful woman, he says, yes she is very pretty, but I seek more than that. When you look into the eyes of my paintings I either want you to feel something like this when looking at them you sense them saying - I see you. I feel you. I understand your deepest passions. I see your sins. I see your guilt. I see who you are. And I still love you. It is like standing before Christ... it is the love of the Divine to a man. And any viewer that looks at these paintings and feel that, I hope they are made to feel better and to be reminded of the greater love - the love of God.
So, I venture into this new terrority unskilled and hacking away through the vines along this new path I am taking. I hope to incorporate all that I have done. I've included the squiggles, I've included the Light, I touch upon universal suffering and the answer, yes, our souls will be saved, we will not cease to exist but continue into a new world one in the pure essence of the Divine. We are accepted for who we are and we merge into one with LOVE.
I have many people say that my "Quest for the Sacred Fire" paintings are my "Dark Period". The paintings are not about the doom and gloom enclosing us, it is about the light in these paintings, the light that substains us. The light that gives us hope and a route of escape from the darkness. It is like the birth canal, the place of rebirth and enlightenment, a place that is filled with light and no darkness. A place filled of the "white moment" a white light place of love.
This is what I hope I leave as my legacy to the world. There is still light no matter the darkness. It is here and it is alive and it yearns for you as you yearn for it.
When I do a painting of a beautiful woman. You are looking at the miracle of her being. Her flesh and bone and blood are weaved of stardust billions of years old. The water of her body is part of the Earth and a combination of elements created since the time of creation. And her life...her fragile, sacred, blessed, candle flame of life, is glowing and in all of this, she is conscious, she is she. But still she is more. She is the symbolic manifestation of the Divine's Love. This I see when I look upon her. This is what I so desperately eagerly seek to create this is what I now ask that the Divine's will, comes through me and guides my hands and eyes and passion to create such pieces.