"POSTULATING TONGUES"

  This series of paintings is a direct result of my sabbatical studies through Northern Europe during the spring of 2005. My studies and travels were directed toward acquiring a better understanding of the "dark method" of painting found in the works of Rembrandt and his contemporaries, as well as some of the modern day practitioners working in the same dark manner of painting.

  The history of the world's people is rooted in the many languages and "tongues" that contain their oral histories. Traveling abroad, one is quick to experience the feeling of isolation or inclusion that occurs when ones "native tongue" is expressed.

  Because the tongue has provided mankind with the vocal facility to communicate our universal needs and ideals through an infinite array of structural soundings, it is seen as one of our most important organs. Containing such powers, the tongue has always been an instrument of great pleasure, or great conflict. With the lines of communication ever widening around the world, we are made more aware of the divides and misconceptions that occur when these lines blur.