Although it may be a cliché to say so, I consider each painting or drawing to be a journey of exploration. The journey begins with an initial concept or inspiration. It may start with an actual observation or a mental image. Sometimes it may even begin as a simple word or phrase that eventually develops into an image in my mind. In some cases, the title may actually come before the image. During the course of the journey, practical considerations such as technique and properties of the materials used are brought into play as the image is worked and reworked. While the finished work often resembles the original idea quite closely, some of the most exciting results derive from those instances where the process has taken me to an entirely unexpected destination. When this happens, there is often a point where, no matter how carefully the composition has been sketched out, the painting begins to impose its own set of rules of how the work should proceed and each succeeding brushstroke seems to suggest a new range of possibilities.
