How does beauty arise from the shadows? How does my inner and outer experience find it’s way into my work? I capture images of my intimate surroundings and bring them into my studio, looking for opportunities to photograph my two sons, Bowen (13) and Austin (11), and their friends, running through our garden, and playing in and around our pond. I grow flowers that I know will interest me as subject matter.

A successful painting is one that I could not possibly have imagined—the discovery of something new, both internal and external. I begin with some questions: how is the canvas divided? What are the basic parts? What flower and child is my subject? What will be the dominant color? Then I discard all design ideas and start working the layers in an intuitive manner, constantly allowing room for errors, without which there would be no new discoveries.

I identify with the outlined children, as they emerge from the layers of roughly dripped paint. Each of my paintings has multiple layers, beginning with dripping and chaotic unprocessed gestures. With each subsequent layer, the image becomes more formed, until there is an intimate balance between the raw and the finished, the murky and the exquisite.