I paint images of people. They are people I don't know and have never met
and while each painting may be a portrait of a single individual, they are
really all portraits of our humanness. Our humanness is what makes us strong,
it is also what makes us weak. It is regret, contentment, faith; so many
complex facets that go into our make up. Everything I paint is an effort to
define that intangible thing that makes us different from every other specie
on the planet.

We see the world through our eyes, but we also see the world through the eyes
of others in the form of photography, film and painting. Film and photography
can be a direct form of documentation, while painting goes through a human
interpretation. That is really the essence of what I do. I paint portraits based
on photographs taken long ago, filtering and interpreting them in my own way.

I choose oil paint because it is made from pigments and minerals of the earth
and the oil these pigments are mixed with is made from the seeds of a plant.
I say this because of the organic truth that painting is for me. It is inherent
in the material.

The process of painting is about time; the contemplation of what I see as the
painting unfolds. Often, what starts as a simple exploration (the making of a
portrait), turns into something that defies my reasons for beginning the painting,
and so the painting evolves without limits of logic or judgment. I act only on
what I feel. Sometimes I have an impulse to do something to the painting than not
only makes no sense but would seem to spell out the destruction of it altogether.
Usually the key to the painting hinges on one of these moments of self-discovery
through process. It is, however a double-edged sword. I look forward to that final
realization but also dread being torn by the process. It is an infinite balance
between creation and destruction.

My strong desire is to communicate with the viewer without leading them to an
obvious conclusion. Painting allows me to do this expressing feelings and attitudes
in a way that I am not able to verbalize, eliciting a visceral response that can be
contemplated in the silence of ones own mind.