My work may be seen as an open window to other realms. Its visual vocabulary has evolved from years of painting the landscape. Although I no longer consider myself a landscape painter nature continues to be my muse. I think of nature as a continuous flow of shapes and patterns of energy that has, or more precisely is, an intelligent force. Most modern day physicists will tell us that all the forces and particles in nature are one, just different ripples on the ocean of consciousness: a Unified Field.

While acknowledging a debt to the abstract expressionists I don’t consider myself ‘of that school’.  That movement tended to focus our attention upon the work as a thing in itself, identified with the art-process. While I wish to stay true to the modernist idea of process-oriented art, behind my shapes and colors on the picture surface there is always another realm, another order of meaning, however abstract that meaning may be.

A sense of structure is important to me, but I avoid strong divisions. I require a certain ‘fluidity’ where everything is flowing into the next thing. My compositions are infused with an overall light that is all-inclusive. This  doesn’t allow anything to be read as separate from the whole. There is diversity, just like in the natural world, but there is an underlying unity that is apparent. I sometimes use preliminary sketches as beginning compositions for paintings and pastels. Much of my process is improvised, allowing the work to evolve organically.

Résumé

Education

1982 Aquinas College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree

1979-81 Kendall School of Design

1977-79 Grand Rapids Community College, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Solo Exhibitions

2010 Luminous Terrain, Mark Gallery, Englewood, New Jersey

2010 Between Connections, Hunter Kirkland Contemporary, Santa Fe, New Mexico

2009 Picture Music, Hunter Kirkland Contemporary, Santa Fe, New Mexico

2009 Invoking the Unknown, Gallery KH, Chicago, Illinois

2008 Diverging Elements, Hunter Kirkland Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM

2008 Directional Developments, Gallery KH, Chicago, IL

2007 Evolving Structures, Hunter Kirkland Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM

2006 Emerging Balance, Hunter Kirkland Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM

2002 Nature's Harmony, Hankins Gallery, Lansing, Michigan

2002 Beaver Island Perspective, Montaage, Beaver Island, Michigan

2001 New Work, Michael FitzSimmons Dec. Arts, Chicago, IL

2000 Light and Reflection, Hankins Gallery, Lansing, Michigan

2000 Mindscape/Landscape, The Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan

1999 New Paintings, The David Klein Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan

1999 Land, Light, and Luminosity, LaFontsee Galleries, Grand Rapids, Michigan

1997 Elemental Harmony, Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso, Indiana

1995 Fountain Street Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan

1994 God’s Quiet Things; illustrations from the picturebook, Shibui Gallery

1994 Witness, Newaygo County Council for the Arts, Fremont, Michigan

1993 Isle Royale Artist-in-Residence Exhibition, Shibui Gallery, Grand Rapids, Michigan

1992 Re-Emergence, Shibui Gallery, Grand Rapids, Michigan

1991 Secrets of Balance, Shibui Gallery, Grand Rapids, Michigan

1990 Lowell Area Arts Council, Lowell, Michigan

1989 Sylvan Light, Grand Rapids Community College, Grand Rapids, Michigan

1988 Realms of Nature: Unfolding Patterns, Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, Michigan

1986 Fountain Street Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan

1984 Elementary Harmony, City Art Gallery, Grand Rapids, Michigan

1983 Partners Gallery, Lansing Michigan

1983 Spirit of Landscape, City Art Gallery, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Group Exhibitions

2009 Annual Show of New York, Hunter Kirkland Contemporary, Santa Fe, New Mexico

2008-2009 Rhythms of Nature, Mark Gallery, Englewood, New Jersey

2003 Natural Code, LaFontsee Gallery, Grand Rapids, Michigan

2001 Common Ground, LaFontsee Gallery, Grand Rapids, Michigan

2003, 01, 00, 98 Featured Artist, Edgewood Orchard Gallery, Fish Creek, Wisconsin

2000 Sympathetic Resonance, Michael FitzSimmons Decorative Arts, Chicago, Illinois

1997-98 The New Regionalism, traveling exhibition

Suomi College of Art & Design, Hancock, Michigan

Bonifas Fine Arts Center, Escanaba, Michigan

Art Center of Battle Creek, Battle Creek, Michigan

Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph, Michigan

Port Huron Museum, Port Huron, Michigan

1997 2 Person Show, Main Street Gallery, Leland, Michigan

1997 Personal Perspectives (2 person show), LaFontsee Galleries, Grand Rapids, Michigan

1997 The Genius of Place, Buckham Gallery, Flint, Michigan

1997 The Leelanau Connection, Midland Center for the Arts, Midland, Michigan

1996 Intimate Rhythms, (two person), South Haven Center for the Arts, South Haven, Michigan

1996 Patterns in Nature, (two person), Main Street Gallery, Leland, Michigan

1996 Considering the Landscape, LaFontsee Galleries, Grand Rapids, Michigan

1995 Discovering Ourselves: Portraits in Art, Muskegon Museum of Art

1993 An American Landscape, Shibui Gallery, Grand Rapids, Michigan

1992 Dance of Light, Shibui Gallery, Grand Rapids, Michigan

1990 The 11th Michigan Biennial: Recent Trends in Painting, traveling exhibition

Kresge Art Museum

Saginaw Art Museum

Kalamazoo Institute of Arts

Ella Sharpe Museum

1987 Mortal Light

Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Awards

2003 Festival Award ($500), Festival Visual Arts Competition, Grand Rapids, Michigan

2001 First Place Festival Award ($1000), Festival Visual Arts Competition, Grand Rapids, Michigan

1999 Best of Show, 11th Annual Juried Exhibition, Holland Area Arts Council, Holland, Michigan

1998 Best of Show, West Michigan Regional Competition, Lowell Area Arts Council

1998 Third Place, Celebration: A Festival of Religious Arts, Grand Rapids, Michigan

1997 Brickley DeLong Award, Regional Exhibition, Muskegon Museum of Art

1997 Perugino Award (First Place), A Renaissance Garden, Grand Rapids Art Museum

1996 First Place, Unique Perspectives, Franciscan Life Development Center, Lowell, Michigan

1996 Second Place, Holland Friends of Art Annual Competition, Holland, Michigan

1996 Purchase Award ($3500) Festival Visual Arts Competition, Grand Rapids, Michigan

1996 Best 2-D, West Michigan Regional Competition, Lowell, Michigan

1995 Best of Show, Holland Friends of Art Annual Competition, Holland, Michigan

1995 Henry Witt Buick Painting Award, Regional Exhibition, Muskegon Museum of Art

1994 Saginaw County Purchase Award ($500), State of the Arts Annual Exhibit

1991 Second Place, Holland Friends of Art 28th Annual Competition, Holland, Michigan

1989 Second Place, Celebration: A Festival of Religious Arts, Grand Rapids, Michigan

1988 Friends of Art Award, Regional Exhibit, Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, Michigan

1987 Second Place, Celebration: A Festival of Religious Arts, Grand Rapids, Michigan

1986 First Place, Winterfest, Holland, Michigan

1986 First Place, Celebration: A Festival of Religious Arts, Grand Rapids, Michigan

1984 Festival Award and City Purchase Award, Festival, Grand Rapids, Michigan

1984 Best of Show, Art in the Park, Birmingham, Michigan

1983 Best of Show and Best Display, Ramparts: Affairs of the Arts, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Collections

Almutiaq Group, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

World Trade Center Hotel, Beijing China

Goldman Sachs, NY

St. Johns College, MD

Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart, GA, FL

RDV Sportsplex, FL

Brauer Museum of Art

Muskegon Museum of Art

Grand Valley State University

Governors Mansion, Mackinac Island, Michigan

Herman Miller

Dow Chemicals

Steelcase, Inc.

Bissell, Inc.

Calvin College

Northern Trust, Milwaudee, Wisconsin

Varnum, Riddering, Schmidt and Howlett

Warner, Norcross and Judd

Michigan National Bank

Beaumont Hospital

Spectrum Health

Alticor

Residencies

1997 Acadia National Park

1997 Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

1995 Sleeping Bear Dunes

1994 Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

1993 Isle Royale National Park