Ken O'Toole

Starting with photography and then progressing to digital photography and computer graphics I was able to hone my composition skills. The body of work which resulted was quite good. However, other than the abstract expressionistic paintings I created using PhotoShop most of the pieces did not satisfy my desire to create something uniquely mine.

Taking to the canvas to create raw material for computer manipulation and also to experience the physical reactions of varying mediums and colors, I began to attack the supports, first with palette knifes, then with tubes and eventually with whole cans of paint. I poured, dripped and slung color with brushes, stirring paddles and even tree branches. The results, happily, were what could only come from my meditations, movements and moods. The images crashed upon the canvas like waves on a secluded beach. Some were heavy with paint and little negative space. Then the tide receded and the results were mostly small spatters of bright color.

Like the abstract expressionists of the 50's and 60's, I am exploring the expanding universe of the ever expanding heart of God in these images. I see windows to distant galaxies and cluttered nebulae within the borders of these confined surfaces where a single drop of paint may represent yet another habitable planet in the cosmic landscape. I am happy to use as large a canvas as I can acquire to explore more and more of these vast regions of space. However, I can also accomplish much the same with smaller frames because I believe, as both the current Dalai Lama and William Blake suggested, you can find the universe in a single atom.  We are, after all, the creator children of The Creator God; even if we are somewhat broken.

It is also true that some of these images are actually the landscapes of emotions or the cosmos within a single thought. I name each piece in accordance with the emotion, meditation, or idea that they most bring to mind. Beyond that you should imagine what you will and visit there often. 

I employ all the above mentioned process to bring medium to support. I also combine these various application methods with dry brush or the drawing of lines with pen and ink to give additional depth or finish to a painting.