Paintings are like a dialogue for conversation. How do you start? One could pick a subject and start talking, or just start talking. I just start talking. Although I begin each painting believing that I have no subject or roadmap, each painting slowly reveals one. I paint for that revelatory experience. I think of Miles Davis saying, “it takes you a long time to sound like yourself.”

As I work, I try to maintain two opposing thoughts. I try to make every decision as if it’s my final one while knowing it never will be. The painting must be the best it can be at each state – there is no planning ahead. This idea makes everything immediate and intense, but because it is contradicted by the notion that there are no right answers, and that nothing is ever finished, I can proceed quickly and intuitively. There is inevitably time to respond to "mistakes" (intelligent accidents) and make changes. I love the fact that painting, like living, is plastic.

If I haven’t had a significant experience with a painting, I’m usually not interested and often eventually dive back in. I don’t always understand what I’m doing and even find it important to be slightly confused; like making sense of a puzzling dream. At some point the paintings seem like abstract narratives. They don’t TELL a story they ARE a story.

When I’m working, I’m thinking about how to apply paint, scale, proportion and relationships of hue, value and intensity. I put down color, then a second one as if that could possibly complete the painting. Then I allow myself another try, then again and so forth. It's a simple process that evolves unexpectedly over time. I know it’s working when I am surprised by the result.