Alcohol is a complex thing. Every individual has his or her own connotations with the word.  Comfort, joy, sadness, and pain are all very different, yet common feelings associated with alcohol.  For me, it is strongly visual. Say the word “alcohol”, and I think of a clear glass bottle with amber liquid inside.  No other human being sees the image I see.  It is mine. 

I have always been intrigued by glass and light, and how the two affect each other. My art typically incorporates hard lines and colors, two things which are integral in the interaction of glass and light.  Adding a liquid to this interplay only complicates things, creating infinitely unique visuals. When that liquid can change how you act, how you feel, and your perception of reality, it becomes very personal to each viewer. 

The intrigue of alcohol is lost when the art is taken away. Pour a bottle of beer into a red Solo cup, and it loses something. Make the liquor bottle opaque, and you regret that you cannot see what is inside.  Rarely do I order a Moscow Mule for this reason. I also have unfavorable memories of college keg parties, solely because I had to drink cheap beer from a plastic cup. There was nothing romantic or beautiful about that. 
Going to a liquor store is stimulating. Looking at the display of bottles in a bar is stimulating.  The shapes and colors of the different bottles, the color of the alcohol inside, and the light refracting off of each one is unintentional art. Or is it intentional? The labels only add to the visual experience, and entice us even more to pick the one we think looks the best. Call it marketing, but I’m a sucker for it.

All of my paintings are oil on canvas, and incorporate freehand lines and hard edges. Although each painting starts as a simple five-minute pencil sketch in my sketchbook, they inevitably become more complicated and colorful as the painting progresses. Each painting means something to me, but the meaning of the painting is whatever you want it to be. Make it yours.