It is my intention to present the landscape as beauty itself, without reference to man and industry. The adjective “catastrophic” is sometimes connected to my work because the question is asked, “what happened to the people?” Though any work I’ve made could be a place here on earth, I think of these panoramas as existing millions of years ago, today, or millions of years in the future. It has been suggested that the landscapes could be from another planet. The Hudson River School is most often associated with my work because of the idyllic quality and color of the vistas. A lot has been written about my work but my most favorite line was written by Kit White, “There were mountains, sunsets and ocean shores before there were eyes to see them.”
What makes these dioramas unusual is that they are created in a 200 gallon tank filled with water. Though I sometimes build a scene in front of and behind the tank, most of the “action” takes place in the tank with paint injected into the water for cloud formations. I use whatever materials I can find on the street, in stores and on the internet that might add to a perception of reality that is not quite what it seems.