Is This A Drawing Or A Painting

That's a question I've been trying to figure out for thirty years. In 1984 the question could be answered more easily 'drawer', since I worked only in pastels. Later, I saw beautiful works by artists who called themselves pastel painters. Perhaps the term 'drawing' still held bad connotations for them, but I've always believed good art begins with good drawing and if it begins and ends with drawing, that's fine too.

In the early 1990's, feeling limited by merely drawing, I started experimenting with different media and substrates. Nothing was off-limits. I used acrylic, oil, collage, and wax on canvas, paper, wood, cork, sandpaper, tar paper and once even painted on a door screen.

Other artists suggested I was really a mixed-media artist, but that term seemed a cop-out for not quite knowing what I was actually doing. Perhaps the term should have been, 'mixed-up media artist.' Finally, it didn't seem important to label myself at all or limit my materials, as long as I felt good about the work and continued pursuing some always out there vision.

The work above is painted and drawn in ink, acrylic, pastel, collage and wax on Rives paper mounted on wood. It's called Layer Cake and is included in my upcoming exhibition at Morean Arts Center in St. Petersburg. The show opens Saturday, May 11, 5-8 pm, and runs through June 30.