Artist Statement                
Memories and experience as embodied in objects are the subject matter of my still lifes. Objects play an important part in my creative process.  They serve as receptacles for meaning. They make reference to cultural myths and universal symbols and through repeated use over many years, they also make up a personal vocabulary consisting of symbols.
The first step in my creative process is setting up a still life.  I spend a great deal of time choosing objects from my collection and arranging them in an evocative way.  I look for visual relationships, as well as symbolic references, hoping for a narrative to emerge.  I rely on intuition and emotion to guide me.  This is the most difficult and unpredictable part of my painting process.
Once I am satisfied with the still life, I begin painting.  Now I have a very different relationship with the objects I’ve chosen.  The moment I put brush to panel, a transformation takes place. The colors and shapes create a tactile song filled with rhythms and melodies.  Objects and images express poetic thoughts.  Unspoken revelations appear.  The process is meditative and calming.  I am drawing from a consciousness that is hidden somewhere within me.  The veil of my familiar thinking gives way to freedom of mind.  This is the psychic space of painting.
I create a magical place in the paintings where things may be represented accurately, but still they aren’t what they appear to be.  First perceptions are misleading. I have landscapes and interiors in mind as I paint, but not in a realistic sense.  I conjure imaginary settings that often defy logic.  It is in this narrow region between what I know and the unexpected that I find meaning.