Statement:

"I would like to create paintings in which the viewer recognizes the physical reality of a landscape, but does not get locked into the "present moment" by excessive detail. My hope is to invite movement from the particulars of the external world to a timeless inner space that is at once more personal, emotional, and spiritual.  Amidst the complexity and stress of daily life, the inward journey becomes an opportunity to recharge, and nurture one's spirit.  In that context, painting is an invitation to extend the boundaries of ordinary reality.  It is an invitation to search for harmony, equilibrium, and perhaps transcendence."

"The art historian Barbara Novak writes eloquently that art can provide 'a sense of spirit, of awe, of quiet reverence, of silent communion, of time both present and eternal.'  In a similar vein, philosopher Huston Smith states that on a deep level art is spiritual because 'it transports us to a higher part of ourselves.'  The challenge is to create paintings that are a catalyst for that kind of elevated vision."

"In 1975, I began exploring a technique using small amounts of oil paint washed on to a paper surface with turpentine. In the resulting paintings, as in watercolors, the unusual luminosity comes from the white board showing through the very thin veils of paint. Brushing and manipulating this thinned oil pigment contributes a distinct quality of sensuality and a subtle expressive energy."

"Thirty years later I am still intensely captivated by the turpentine wash technique because it continues to reveal an amazing variety of new expressive possibilities. The extremely spontaneous and improvisational nature of the process fosters excitement with on-going technical innovations (vocabulary) and with the continued evolution of the conceptual framework that landscape provides. I begin by repeatedly visiting specific landscape sites. Later, in the isolation and comfort of the studio, I work from memory and invention rather than from studies or photographs. There is no pre-planning; the images arise like dreams."

"This permits the content of the paintings to flow in part from those significant, deeply intuitive realms beyond literal, conscious thought and empirical description. In this way, changing colors, changing qualities of light and space, changing patterns of weather, and changing seasons, all aspects of the natural world, also become an effective and compelling entrance into the more mysterious realms beyond purely rational consciousness."