I have always been fascinated with picture making that is represented by what people perceive. To paint a picture based on reality, it really becomes an icon of one's reality. This is why one can argue that in a landscape painting, a tree isn't a tree. It is the impression of a tree and therefore it's shaped by our co-established vocabulary of a tree. Art is visually pleasing when one recognizes familiar icons that one has learned. The further away from this idea you go the more the viewer needs to pull from his or her own memory about reality. This is why abstract art can be very misunderstood and misinterpreted. I believe I like representational art because it keeps the basic premise of art fairly simple.

Man is the center of the universe and God is his power, or shaman. The art world has dealt with this concept for centuries and it has split into two directions. One is based on science and the other is based on spirit. When both movements come together you have remarkable results. When they split apart you have confusing results.

In my own work I tend to go in the direction of the spirit. Recreating a moment in time that can express the emotion of a person or object can be tricky. I must first try to understand the subject and then transcend it into a larger perception of what it is as I see it. It has to be felt within. One of my heroes of this is Henry O. Tanner, an artist trained in Philadelphia in the late 19 Century. His paintings go beyond what he saw, and you can feel the love and care in each of his paintings.

My goal some day is to create paintings as well or better in a similar fashion or culture. Culture meaning genre or area of focus and generally same artistic environment. As with most things in life, time will only tell.

James Hoston