Painting is all about paying attention and being present in the moment. When I paint, I’m looking intensely at what’s before me – not only as an artist, trying to see color, light, and form, but as a scientist, trying to understand the underlying structure of the figure, flower, or scene before me. Only painting compels me to this level of focus. It makes me feel alive and centered in the world, complete immersion. For this reason, I’m drawn to a couple of the more esoteric forms of painting besides oil painting: egg tempera and encaustic. Each one is difficult and requires learning new techniques and approaches to painting. Old habits don’t work anymore, and the challenges require one to adapt, to be curious, to be committed to learning and experimentation, and to concentrate and hone in.

Likewise, art making is a way of responding to the intense feelings that being human and conscious evoke in me. I remember, as a child, feeling like I would literally explode if I couldn’t get my feelings out of myself and onto a canvas. Art is my pole star.

“The object isn’t to make art, it’s to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable.” – Robert Henri