"Spirit Animals:     A Little Help from Our Friends" Opening: July 5, 2024 5:00-6:30 pm Giacobbe Fritz Fine Art 702 Canyon Road Santa Fe, New Mexico Someone once asked who had given me permission to paint the way I do. I thought that was a wonderful question because in it was the implication that the work was somehow outside of some set of rules to which a painter had to comply. Painting is not a matter of rules, rather it is an arena of freedom and creative liberty where no permission is required-that is, if one paints authentically. My style evolved in the struggle of push and pull between artist and canvas, in the space of my own private, quirky, little battleground of observation, interpretation, intention and application. What has resulted is a visual journal, a commentary on many universal subjects. As paint and brushes are my tools so are humor, metaphor, playfulness, color and text. I want the work to be initially accessible. I like to draw the viewer into the environment of the painting, invite them to stay a while and there discover more subtle aspects of the work.