Artist Statement

I am challenged at the prospect of taking an image from a photo, enlarging it and bringing it to life on canvas. I have painted in oil for 16 years and more recently have ventured into mixed media. I am influenced by Georgia O'Keefe, Andy Warhol, and Chuck Close and have found the transparency of an oil glaze to be the best transport for my expressions.

I make pictures of people. I don't consider my paintings portraits of individuals, but rather, the people in my paintings are represented as individual parts of a whole.

My process involves using a grid. Initially I construct it to transfer the image from the context of a photo to the right spot on the canvas. Through pattern and color it becomes a tool to help define my perception of the individual, and in the end it evolves to become the habitat of the whole.