Philip Hale (Ohio) curriculum vitae
“These urban landscapes are from locations within a mile radius of my winter home and studio in Costa Rica. Though I am now doing most of my painting in Costa Rica, I work half the year in the US and part of this time as a free-lance certification inspector for the organic food industry. I have always been attracted towards the exotic but at the same time, seek my identity in the mundane; which I think might be a cultural trait of the Midwest
     I believe that for painting to thrive in this century as the high Art that it is, young painters, teachers, and the general viewing public should understand the concept of plastic or pictorial space, as found in the best paintings, and its difference from naturalistic space, as found in nature. I believe Hans Hoffmann’s teachings have proved true on this. He taught that plastic creation provides a three-dimensional effect but must exist two-dimensionally; where the picture plane is completely maintained. When this has been accomplished, a painting has tension, real force, and a breathing life - akin to harmonics in music.
     To me, creating this pictorial space is the real game in painting; and to do without it, (to paraphrase the poet Robert Graves) is like playing tennis without a net. I believe that the painter’s main job is to translate nature and naturalistic space into pictorial space. Once this is accomplished, you are free to read into it whatever you like.”

---