ARTIST STATEMENT  

I like creating pieces with movement, bright colors, euphoric visual images.  For me, for this kind of work, I think a good deal of my motivation is the sensory pleasure I experience from painting.  Watching paint shift back and forth between the abstract and image consistently thrills me.  I think when I'm painting like this, I'm trying to tell myself a story of optimism and joy, and that's what I'd like the viewer to experience.  The tree paintings are bit of a departure from my usual. They end up being horizontal bands of dark and light, broken up by trunks, leaves, and sky patches. They’re calmer, stiller, quieter, heavier. The mood is entirely different. These are meant to evoke more completive feelings.