The pieces are expressed in two layers: the materials that I paint on, and what is painted on this surface. Both of these elements are integral to the work, the surface having as much relevance as the images that follow.
At times the work is simply composed on wood panels. At other times I choose from a collection of found materials that may include old table tops, cabinet doors, and pieces of scrap wood and metal. These items may be assembled, using their surface as the background for the painting or covered with texture paste.
More recently, I have been working with odds and ends … left over bits from previous works – small wood blocks wrapped in canvas, as well as trace paper folded and taped together.
What is then placed on these backgrounds is unplanned. Line drawings, markings, painted strokes and scribbles are made with oil, lumber stick, resin stick, charcoal, graphite and ink. I create these drawings/markings predominantly with my non-dominant hand. The use of my left hand allows me to draw in an unpracticed manner, and often rescues me from over thinking the work.
I am inspired by those things in our environment that have become worn or distressed by nature or human intervention - such as the billboard that has been partially stripped away, a wall that is peeling away layers, or a metal utility phone box plastered with paper. These visual encounters remind me of the nature, beauty and simplicity of the process of aging, the process of change.
In a subtle way, my work mirrors these steps – building and stripping away – engaging in and allowing a process of change to be a part of the work.
I am not conscious of representing a specific story or idea as I work. The exact meaning of a piece in many instances eludes me. In the end I am more often struck by an emotional response to what I paint and draw.