Without question, the physical act of painting is as satisfying to me as the finished painting itself. I stand, moving back and forth, trying to maintain that ideal balance between creative abandon and physical control. For me, it takes these actions to make a beautiful, finished painting that remains somewhat raw. I mix the oils directly on the canvas, and I almost always finish a painting in one sitting.

I wish to avoid living my life without a sense of visual awareness, and if I've been given a creative purpose, I believe it is to paint our expansive, commanding skies. It's the power, the turbulence, the movement, and the fast changing colors I most like to articulate.  To this end, I often use large house painting brushes, prefer a larger canvas, and sometimes paint the stormiest skies with the canvas turned upside down. I begin with a fairly strict idea of where I'm going; then, somewhere during the process, I cut myself loose. I love the energetic, raw emotion this gives a painting.

I'm a weather enthusiast, to be sure. No white, fluffy clouds or languid, lazy skies for me.  It's that wildness and unpredictability of an approaching storm, or the sharp slice of vermilion against an indigo backdrop that appeal to me. I love the contrast between a bright horizon sky, and a darker, deeper upper sky.

My goal is to create a conflict of colors and textures that result in a beautiful harmony on the canvas. Here my gestures are assured....These skies are the work I was meant to do.

R. Waiksnis
July 2008