The late Thad Suits, Beloit College painter and professor once remarked that there are no ugly colors. Rather it is the juxtaposition with other colors that defines its beauty.

​

Painted in a few brush strokes at sunset on an Oregon beach, the above work has colors (grey, browns and strange greenish colors) that would be unattractive on their own. Added to the carefully chosen brighter colors, these become essential to creating the atmosphere of a sea coast space.

 

To achieve full glory, the pigments depends critically on the quality of papers. And some papers are so beautiful that ,untouched, they seem a work of art. This is why, in class, Thad said that one must be prepared to stomp on the paper to have the courage to disturb its pristine state with pigment or  pencil.

 

Some papers seem to be waiting for just a few brush strokes of the color. Others invite simple line drawings of contours or smudges of soft pastel. And heavy watercolor papers invite a series of intentional folds and cracks that set the composition and vary the surface for application of pastels, watercolor, graphite powder or a combination of these.

 

Occasionally I am drawn to a full canvas and then creamy oil color keep my works quite minimalist. Like Tuscan cooking, just a very few tools  and a few stokes combine in a pleasing process that avoids extravagance.

 

This site is dedicated to Thaddeus Suits, the most remarkable painter I have ever known.