"Memory/Imagination #4"/2002
Oil on panel, 4'x4'

"Memory/Imagination #9"/2003
Oil on panel, 5'x4'

Through painting oil on panel, Alexander Schaffer-Czech shares a lifetime of love for water and the environment around water that is reflected upon it. Growing up by the ocean, fishing and surfing quickly became a part of his life. It is through these activities that he became familiar with the kinetic movement and flow of water. Manipulation of color from the reflection of the surrounding environments upon the water has always been a fascination for Alexander. Developing this observation and appreciation of the water surface layer eventually led to the desire to capture it through the medium of oil paint. However, rather than painting plein air or from photo, Alexander chose to draw upon past experiences and paint from memory. Being fortunate to see an array of surreal performances within nature, he paints not only the visual phenomenon of water and that which is reflected by it, but also paints remembered feelings of aspiration. These feelings are transformed into "the moment"; allowing for imagination to direct the movement and color of the painting. Each painting experience therefore becomes a long meditation drawn from a spilt second of the past.