Field Notes

The current series, Field Notes, began as an experiment in control and discipline. The artist set out with clear goals: to refine his practice by using higher-quality materials, maintaining an orderly studio, improving time management, and following a rigid plan to produce a cohesive series of paintings for a specific space. Above all, he wanted to see if it was possible to create work while limiting emotional connection to it.

In his previous practice, emotion and personal meaning were central: so much so that the process became exhausting. Field Notes was conceived as an attempt to step back, to become more of an observer than a participant.

What emerged, however, was the realization that separating emotion from art is impossible. No matter the initial intentions, each painting inevitably took on shifting layers of meaning, changing with the artist’s mood or state of mind. At times the works appeared loaded with narrative; at others, they returned to being “just paintings.”

Ultimately, the artist came to see this body of work as an exploration of boundaries: both within his practice and within himself. The transition from a full-time teaching career to full-time artist forced a confrontation with unhealed parts of the self, revealing an ongoing challenge of setting emotional boundaries. Field Notes became a way of navigating this tension: pushing at the edges of control, emotion, and meaning in order to understand where limits truly lie.

Or, perhaps, they are simply paintings.