Paul was born in Albemarle, North Carolina.Encouraged by an older brother, he developed an interest in the visual arts. His early discovery that nearly every old magazine and illustrated book offers a rich vein of visual material waiting to be mined led led to a preoccupation with the creative aspects of photo collage.
After studying at the Ringling School of Art and the Atlanta College of Art, he moved to New York City and continued his studies at the School of Visual Arts. It was while living in New York, and coming in contact with artists representing many styles and means of creative expression, that he developed a serious interest in collage and mixed media. Paul was influenced by such artists as Paul Klee, Saul Steinberg, Rene Magritte and the German collage artists of the 1920s and 1930s.
Through a process of culling, editing, using scale and juxtaposition, the artist attempts to give familiar images a new life --one of visual and scenic uniqueness and humor. A further interesting aspect of his art is that the collages are all created by hand and without the use of a computer.
The artist hopes the viewer,from the vantage point of his or her own sensibility, will share his enthusiasm for these recreations and for the art of collage.
