Artists seem to be endowed with perceptual understandings that go beyond merely seeingthings. As an artist I want to offer the viewer more than a recording or a photographic likeness of a visual scene. I wish to expose the mysterious depths that lie beneath.

If I am successful, then my viewer can look into as well as look at my painting. Rather than just seeing an old man walking the hilly roads of Ireland, I want to present his story to the viewer. My use of colors, values, temperatures and edges allow my viewer a glimpse of what is beyond the obvious.

By looking into my painting, the viewer can vicariously experience the dedication and drudgery of the Irish peasant as he totes a bundle of hay up and down the cold damp hills, and possibly imagine what it feels like to be in this old man’s muddy Wellington boots as he takes his daily trod. The viewer not only sees the visual scene but also may smell the moist hay, feel the cold wind, and perhaps hear the soulful tune that resonates within.