Ryan Coover, watercolor
Hi Shannon,
It¹s funny that you ask to be most specific about my paintings. I can an will be now and it should shed some further light in why I am always referring to my childhood.
Ultimately I have always loved discovering new spaces and as children at play we are doing it all the time. I would cruz the beach and then find myself digging in the sand looking at each grain of sand while discovering how the crabs inhabit the sand with making holes and then how they would run to the water and dig themselves into the sand to escape danger. Then it was all the swimming and walking on the reef out front of the house again seeing a very large ocean and then zooming in and seeing how the fish eat off the reef and others animals make their home.
Then it was traveling through the miles of endless acres of sugarcane only to come across a large sand dune which resulted from when they cleared the land for planting. I would climb to the top where my views opened 360 from the closed off walk through the cane fields. This type of ³transitional² spaces are the reason I like so much action and dynamics in my work of architecture.
Now lets turn to TV since I watched more than I ever read. Two very powerful and favorites of mine and this is again due to the fact that you see the Whole then Discover more in the Mirco. (this is reflected in my art work as it pertains to my pencil work that you only notice when you get closer to the paintings)
1. The Twiddlebugs : Tina, Thomas, Teddy, and Tessie are the cute and innovative Twiddlebug family that lives in Ernie¹s flower box. They use tiny found objects for their furniture and toys.
http://www.sesamestreet.org/onair/characters/twiddlebugs
2. Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! Very simple tale of the elephant with a big heart and big ears -- Horton can hear the tiny inhabitants of Whoville, whose miniature world is in peril -- the story is quite innocent and child-friendly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horton_Hears_a_Who!
Both of these again influence my thoughts about space. SO I would have to say that even though you can tie my works to Nature, it¹s not where I always go for my beginnings. It¹s these magical small places found in the larger place I like to paint about.
This might get us on the right track What do you think about all this it is worth explaining? Will the reader think I am on drugs even thought I have never smoked pot or had a drink of alcohol? Maybe I should just say I am a drug free painter that loved his childhood. It¹s short and to the point. ;)
