Bio
Jeff Waring was born in Fall River, Massachusetts in 1963. He lives near Philadelphia in Media, Pa with his wife Jenny and 2 daughters. Waring studied painting at Rhode Island School of Design, earning a BFA in 1985. He teaches art at Westtown School, in Westtown, Pa.

Artist Statement
Much of my recent work has been inspired by nature and has been created outdoors. As such, I’m calling the body of work Groundplay. The paintings are not objective views of photo-op, rest-stop, snap-shot vistas. They are pieces of me, the land, and the sky sifted and soaked with color and grit. They are explorations of natural dynamics; time, growth, erosion, the pull of moon on tide, the flow of river and stream, the undulation of hill and valley, the slap of wave on shore.

In all of these works there is an exploration and celebration of both loss and gain. Embedded in the land are mothers, lovers, reasons to kill and the promise of prosperity. The land is sensual in the right light, fertile when well-fed, pleasantly suburban when manicured, depressing when raped and ruthless when you least expect it or most deserve it. When left to her own devices, she is awesome beyond imagination.

I’ve been hovering above as I create, watching the cycles of birth and death inherent in geology. These cycles are undeniable. One layer of paint suffocates the previous one, or at least changes the expression. New truth devours old truth. Often the residue of intentions are barely visible through the layers of attempted discovery. The arrival of each painting, although layered and complex, often appears to be startlingly obvious and simple. Rivulets run from the mouth.

--Jeff Waring 07/20/06

Education
1985 Rhode Island School of Design, BFA Painting

Experience
1989-present Member of Highwire Artists Cooperative Gallery
1991-present Chair of Fine Arts Department, Westtown School
1986-1991 Art teacher, Haverford School
1989 Sabbatical to study petroglyphs in Utah and aboriginal art in Australia