The term “Creatura” was used in classical texts, often in philosophical or theological discussions related to creation, existence, and the nature of beings. It also means the act of something being brought into being.

Since I was a child, I have been drawing animals. My early artistic forays ranged from illustrated escapades featuring my first pony to giant 5-foot-tall drawings of rabbits made of taped together mimeograph paper that I made for my first-grade teacher. Horses were the beings that led me to the path of exploring art and the natural world. They have a way of mirroring your thoughts and emotions if you learn to see what they say. Horses and other creatures have been patient teachers in my understanding of myself and others. The image of the horse often represents change or transformation about to occur in my life when the reappear in my work.  Being that this is the “Year of the Horse” in the Chinese lunar calendar, their presence here seems appropriate.

The works presented in this exhibition are an eclectic collection of invented sketchbook musings to perceptual studies made either in situ or referenced. My work has always vacillated from the poetic to the perceptual and is nature based. One process informs the other. Animals, in particular, have always been a constant form of inspiration and study. They are never just objects I stare at, but sentient beings that stare back. Drawing them, for me, is a way of knowing and honoring them.