Statement

My paintings are not about what I see and try to represent. They come through me. I then “see” what manifests. I approach each blank sheet of paper or piece of canvas as an experiment, a step into the unknown. Different mark-making instruments and materials, various kinds and consistencies of paint and inks, all mix with the water that helps me stay in this process of flow for extended times. In the best moments, I leave behind thoughts of what I might want to create and open to the process happening with and through me. This is the land of not knowing, of surrendering and trusting, of serious play. 

“I’d rather risk an ugly surprise than rely on things I know I can do.” Helen Frankenthaler

Painting is less about a need to express myself and more about opening and connecting within and beyond. It makes me feel both larger and smaller. Yet, this piece, the one I am working on, would not be here unless I engaged in this process. Does it always work? Certainly not. I create some glorious messes and a fair amount of work that “fails” by most external measures. That doesn’t matter. What matters is staying in the process. Each mark, each stroke or pour invites the next possibility in this dance of expression. I often tear or cut up my experiments, deconstructing to reconstruct them anew.

I paint to feel alive and connected beyond my small self. Painting offers openings, invitations to step through.