Ordinary People

Ordinary People are those paintings that came out of something happening in my life, some memory or some news story, something funny, something frustrating.


 

Ordinary People are those paintings that came out of something happening in my life, some memory or some news story, something funny, something frustrating. Like the book, “Ordinary People,” these paintings show the made-up exterior of people living their lives but hint at something brewing below the surface. This work may start with me but it’s not just about me. 

I’m astonished by how many artists want to control how the public sees their art. The way I see it, an artist needs to let people bring their own experiences to the work and be comfortable with whatever responses they have. Someone once said to me that art can be a therapeutic way to communicate with yourself. Personally, I don’t want to stand in the way of that happening. There’s a bigger purpose; what you see and bring to the experience, I believe, is part of it. It’s not for me to dictate how you should feel.