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As the son of an Air Force serviceman stationed in
a small Japanese village, Ford's artistic sensibilities
began to take root under the nurturing eye of an
elderly Japanese painter. After moving back to
the States, he enrolled at the University of
Mississippi in pursuit of his BFA. After graduating
with a degree in Painting, Ford moved to
Atlanta where he realized a natural talent for
photography. During the late 70's and 80's Ford
established his reputation as Atlanta's premier
fashion photographer.
The early 90's, however, brought a compelling
urge to return to painting. Ford took a hiatus
from photography to travel the world and seek
inspiration. After exploring different painting styles
and themes, Ford found tremendous fulfillment
creating contemporary landscapes conjured
from the stunning horizons witnessed during his
travels. Despite his photography background,
Ford never paints from a photograph.
Ford's sense of nature is not a Romantic's wild
and angry universe. Rather, he recalls the
startling color combinations and mesmerizing
horizons, then blends those images with his own
passion and optimistic philosophy of life. The easy
precision, subtlety and repose of his paintings
may well derive from that Asian aesthetic he
developed in his early years.
The intensity of working over a single piece to
finish it makes the process very physical. He lets
layers of paint - acrylics on canvas - drip and
flow, just letting things happen. "I was taught in
college to let the paint find the imagery," he
recalls. Still, there is less accident in achieving
these surfaces than one might think. They're a
study in control and spontaneity, because while
Ford may allow the materials to find their own
expression, he then moves to manipulate them
to achieve their unique composition and
texture. Often, he'll embellish the canvas with
plaster granules scattered across the wet surface
as color and texture are forced to intersect.
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