"I have come to realize that all paintings are abstractions to a greater or lesser degree. When I returned to painting in 2004, I chose a very realistic style rather than the abstract expressionistic works from my college days in the School of Design at NC State University. This realistic style lets me approach organic subject matter in a very analytical way and allows me to explore the beauty and distinct nature of each floral subject, whether it be the thin, delicate, crinkled petals of poppies or the thick curving petals of the magnolias. The choice of subjects for these paintings reveals my lifelong fascination with flowers.
I celebrate the beauty of flowers, whether by describing the life cycle of a poppy or by zooming in and enlarging a portion of a white peony to emphasize the shapes and subtle changes in value and color. We perceive this as a flower, yet we focus instead on the sculptural organic forms.
Most of my sculpture is also organic but much more abstracted. They are hand built of ceramics and in most cases bisque fired without a glaze. This particular clay has a soft white color which enhances the visual aspect of the smoothly flowing surfaces. A number of these curvilinear pieces show the influence of my college studies with the noted sculptor, Jose de Rivera, who impressed on me the importance of the smoothly flowing line so prevalent in his own work." --Donald Peeler
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