I am constantly discovering fascinating colors, forms, and textures that speak to me as an abstract artist. I avoid representational imagery to give myself the greatest opportunity for improvisation and to give the viewer the greatest opportunity for interpretation. For me, each painting or sculpture has a feeling that I associate with it, but I don’t try to consciously draw a feeling, rather I try to let my hand work automatically as I sketch out forms. When I see something that resonates with me, I develop the image, re-drawing it several times, until I have a clearly formed visual idea. These sketches are then typically used to form a finished work or the foundation of a body of works.
I expect the viewer's interpretation to be formed around their own memories and experiences. I hope the viewer can also find their own feelings for the work. Even though the forms are non-representational I am very comfortable with people saying “ it looks like a boat” or “a dragon.” To make connections! To see and understand the relationship between things or people is one of the highest forms of thinking we can do. Abstract art can teach us about how this thought process works and gets down to the origins of how we acquired this skill. As an artist, I understand that each viewer is asking themselves one of the most difficult questions humans have learned to answer "What does it say to me?"
