When I paint I aim not to dictate, but to interact and discover.  I have little interest in replicating something already visible. Any time I’ve been adamant about what I wanted from a painting, the painting stopped speaking back and lost its life.  For me, the spirit in a painting comes from a dialog with the materials.  This usually leads me to some place that I did not foresee and results in an environment built on still visible decisions and choices, a visual record of a conversation.

 

My paintings often suggest the ongoing or the transitory.  If they engage the imagination or evoke an emotion, I hope they do it almost inexplicably rather than through use of the recognizable.