I paint in a fast, erratic style, flashing my brush across the canvas in almost thoughtless arches, the lines of my passing clear in the glisten of a robin’s egg eye, or a messy nest of brown hair. The intensity of the moment with a live model, with its rush of movement and spontaneity cannot be repeated. The painting is finished when the moment or idea that captured me is gone. I become enthralled by the touch of light on a person’s eyes, or the shape and curve of their lips, and I lose sight of everything else. These pieces often look interrupted; the artist having just stepped away for a minute for a quick bite to eat or a nap.

I work mostly in oils, and graphite. Pulling the paint across the panel with a thumb as often as a brush, blending and darkening silvery penciled grey with the palm of my hand or the tips of my fingers, the prints of my pads quickly disappearing under the rough pressure. Pencil flashing in and out, dark lines quivering in the shadow of a lip or lurking under a stern chin. Silver or gold leafing feathers the edges and accents the forms of the finished work.

The concepts behind my work are harder to explain. The ideas and imagery essentially captured by the chaotic characters and lines are meant to have depth and purpose, substance outside of anything originally intended in the work. I have a clear vision behind each piece, but I’m much more interested in the personal truth each individual finds in the smooth expanse of the panel than the original intent behind it.