My first version of this piece featured calm waters and clear skies and appeared to be, on the surface, a contemplative piece. The idea for it came about, however, as a result of an unsettled time in my relationship. One morning, my wife and I were discussing an issue that had been dogging our marriage for some time. When she asked how I felt at that moment, I said, “Like a man in a boat alone.”  From this conversation, I set out to create a piece with one man in one boat on a vast sea. The feel and look of the piece, however, was not right, aesthetically or psychologically.  I then added more people in boats, all of whom were keeping to themselves (reading, looking away, etc. ). Upon completion, I saw this as a hopeful piece. While we are all “in a boat alone,” there are opportunities for connection all around us, including within relationships. 

This brings me to the new version, Man in a Boat Alone: Contemplation. In this one, what looks like chaos fills the sky, however I see this “chaos” as light and energy.  While we are all in a boat alone, we can still connect by bringing presence and contemplation to our lives, which in turn brings  energy, creativity and light.

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As we were traveling across Mexico this past fall, my friends and I noticed groups of men standing around in parking lots and various other public places. They appeared to be waiting for something.  What are they waiting for? we wondered aloud. It was a short leap from what are they waiting for to the larger psychological question, What are any of us waiting for? Whether it is to leave a job, get married, pursue a dream, travel, or take any number of other big and small steps, we all wait—sometimes until we have courage or “permission,” or sometimes until we’ve had enough of the status quo. Sometimes the wait is short; sometimes the wait never ends.
We began thinking about other questions that have a larger psychological edge. What Are We Searching For? and Where Are We Going were two such powerful, opened-ended questions. In the WAWSF piece, I have left the figures intentionally ambiguous. Are they contemplative or lost? Is the man to the left taking off a mask or putting one on? They all have shadows with one exception. Some are in boxes and some are not. Did they put themselves in these boxes? Did someone or something else put them there? Are they confined or is it an illusion? There are also references to time, freedom, power, journey and career. The piece feels almost dream-like to me even though this was not my original intention.

What Are We Searching For

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When I told someone recently about “The Circle” and the concept of the “eight winds” as described by the Buddhists, he said, “Oh, you mean life.” The “eight winds” are a group of juxtaposed influences which include: Prosperity and Decline; Honor and Disgrace; Praise and Censure; and Pleasure and Suffering. While the term “eight winds” might be a Buddhist term, we are all familiar with the “ups and downs” of life.  The key, according to Buddhist thought, is not to be so emotionally moved by these winds–that is, not to be overly joyed by gain or overly grieved by decline.  By remembering that life is a cycle and that good and bad both pass, come again, and pass again, we can become more accepting of both, and therefore more balanced.

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While I have created jugglers in my art in the past, I find this juggler the most complex and ambiguous of the group.  I use jugglers to represent our conscious “juggling” of career, relationships, money, etcetera. The blindfold has represented many things over the centuries, but I am using it in this piece to represent the unconscious. By evoking the unconscious I am asking us to be mindful of all that we take on and to be aware of the blindfold that we all, to some extent, wear.  Overall this is meant to be a hopeful image that shows our mastery but asks us to be mindful of what we are juggling.

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My work often shows men and women in contemporary settings dealing with time, career, money, distraction, and media in all forms.  I do not create political art, so when I found myself with a piece that appeared to be a women’s protest piece, I was surprised.  In the process of creating a piece that was meant to be simply contemporary women in an urban setting, it became obvious that it was more than that.  As it turns out, I unconsciously placed the women in strong and defiant poses. Even the hats took on an iconic meaning. This piece flowed from me unexpectedly and effortlessly, and I felt that I must honor it.

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Growing up in rural Tennessee, I was fascinated by all things urban. The large metropolitan cities I saw on television glittered at night with lights and cars and well-dressed, beautiful people on their way to beautiful restaurants and parties. City life was a beautiful life and all urban people were living it, it seemed to me. This was, of course, a naive and romanticized vision. I somehow overlooked or discounted the crime stories and the images of less well-off people. Of course I now have a more complex and balanced view of cities. I still love the energy of them when I am in one, the people crowding the sidewalks, getting coffee at a local roasters, exploring and walking neighborhoods, and the museums and backdrop of beautiful buildings. My cityscapes are both a throwback to the days when I idealized cities and my way of honoring the reality of them, with all their fortunes and flaws.

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Psyche Meets Process : The Art of Digital Discovery with Daryl Thetford.  Lecture on November 8, 2017 at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts

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The 96″ x 60″ commission for 5444 Westheimer is complete and will be featured, along with 5 other pieces of mine in the lobby of this beautiful building ( located to far left in image )

My goals in creating this piece were to make the 5444 building prominent, include many of the significant buildings that define the area, and include the Galleria and some of its merchants. I brought in the flavor of the Westheimer/Galleria area by including the large silver rings that are installed over major intersections, the silver arches over some of the streets, some of the unique silver light poles, and the concrete balls that are on many corners.  These landmarks make for the area’s highly original signature. The open space intentionally left in front of the cityscape also reflects the open feel of the Westheimer/Galleria area. Click Here for Full Image Description.

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My cityscapes are normally intended to convey the energy of cities.  In this case however, I see them conveying the energy of a city and of a corporation.  Convey the energy of cities, the movement, color, sometimes chaos, but all within a framework.  In this case, using Ryan s history, etc I think it also conveys the energy of a company with their involvement in so many projects around the world. Click Here to See Full Details of the Ryan Commission

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Contemporary Journey 1 96″ x 96″ and  Contemporary Journey 2, 96″ x 96″, both inkjet on aluminum, will hang side by side in the main ticketing lobby.

While I wanted to establish these pieces clearly within the journey metaphor, I also wanted to create an intentionally ambiguous narrative which would allow the viewer to bring his or her thoughts, stories and interpretations to the pieces. What are the figures in the piece doing?  Are they leaving or arriving? Are there second thoughts about a destination or departure, or is there great dream-like hope? Are the pieces tense or uplifting?  I am asking the viewer to consider what hopes and/or anxieties we bring to any journey, physical or psychic, and what our relationship is to those thoughts and emotions.

I wanted these pieces to be contemporary as well as a homage to vintage graphic posters. The use of black, white, pink and gold as the primary colors links both time periods and styles, as does the simplicity of the pieces, but with the playfulness and ambiguity for which my work is known.

The components for this piece include photos of people I have posed, photographs of suitcases, actual airplanes photographed on runways, and astronomy illustrations and weathered paper and paint.

The writing on the foreground suitcase is from the Jungian psychologist James Hollis. The writing on the plane is found graffiti, the Tao, and an old letter to home found at an antique store.

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