Artist's statement

As a painter, I am inspired by the sensory world of nature: its color, texture and light, especially how the light continually transforms the spaces that surround me. These elements bring up memories of landscapes from childhood that left a deep impression on me and continue to influence the creation of my artwork. 

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I prefer subjects that I have an emotional connection to, and usually these are places that I can experience often. I become attached to places, and by continually experiencing them they come to embody my presence. While I often work directly at a location, I am not a true plein air artist because the products of these sessions are more about what I soak up from the experience to use in studio work than about what I create on location. But working on site periodically is an important part of my art practice and gives me a sense of communion with nature and a feeling of living in the moment that is like meditation for me.

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My style of painting is impressionistic and abstract, and I put emphasis on the experience of a place rather than an accurate description of it. In the studio, I approach painting as a dialogue between my intent and the elements of painting that are most important to me. These are color, structure, the physicality and texture of paint, the gesture and mark. I am open to changes as the relationships emerge during the process of painting, and usually never know ahead of time how a painting needs to look. A painting is finished when it has acquired an emotional and formal presence -- a resonance, to use a musical term. In fact, I experience the landscape much as a musical event, and try to create the movement and rhythms I feel in nature in the paintings.