George has provided an artist’s statement about his new paintings, which also provides some background about his inspiration and the references for the paintings, and about his transition from the white paintings of his previous series into working with color. It can be viewed under the “Artist’s Statement” tab, above, but is provided here, as well:
6/04/09
I would first like to thank you for taking the time to visit my site. I hope that you enjoy what you see. Please feel free to ask me any questions you might have. Thanks. -George
I would like to say a few things about these newer paintings. I have always been drawn to the landscape. Not landscape paintings, per se, but the space with which they present you. Spatial relationships are extremely important to me, and there is no more instant shift in perception than through the act of creating a horizon line on the canvas. In the past, these horizon lines served as the primary focus of my paintings, using mostly black and white paint, so as to not detract from the linear quality I had hoped to achieve. Also–and this was important–I wanted to take out any reference to a specific place. The paintings were generic, in a sense, and were meant as an act of seeing in and of itself; of acclimating oneself to the art, and not vice versa. In a sense, the viewer decided what that space was. However, a recent trip to the Greek Islands and the Aegean Sea changed all that for me. I fell in love with the place, and felt the need to paint that; to try somehow to capture just some of the awesomeness of this great place-of the air, the land, the sea, & the light that I experienced while there. So the color has returned. It simply had to. My goal here is to create a living, breathing space; one that is specific to my memory and feelings about each particular setting.
