It is always a shape that captures my eye: the ovals created by ripples in a pond, lines of receding waves, rectangles in a line of fence posts. I take these forms and break them down further, until the picture is about the shapes created.

Everything I paint is a portrait. I reach into all my subjects, whether they are people, animals or natural phenomena to capture their essence. I paint their personality.

I always consider the composition before I begin sketching. I build up colors, creating composite hues and letting in light by layering and scumbling to reveal what I see as the personality of that object.

Creating a memorable image is important. I seek to make visual representations that grow with the viewer; that continue to be interesting over a long period of time.

I like to provoke the viewer into a heightened awareness of their experience in front of the canvas. My recent work highlights questions of proximity that bring the subject right up to the surface of the canvas, almost into the viewer's space. By layering the paint with broad brushstrokes, I invite the audience to appreciate the physical, painterly qualities from close quarters and the personality of the subject at a distance.