Statement

Almost all of these paintings were done from life and completed while the model was present. This means I have to paint fast since I only have the three hours that the model is there. I like the pressure. I like having less time to second guess myself. Sometimes I am painting in a mild panic hoping to get to the point where everything is falling into place and I know what I am doing. When that happens I wish that someone was watching because I feel like a performer, creating People out of Nothing. (Of course many paintings don’t work out. Sometimes even when I feel like all is going well, it wasn’t, and those paintings get painted over.)

I love being able to look so hard at people, something you can only rarely do in everyday life, unless they can’t see you.

People are mysterious because of what they keep hidden and poignant because of what they inadvertently reveal.

Some things I have loved to paint:
Ears that stick out or shine orange from the light behind them.
Skimpy, transparent lingerie on a muscular body, with the frivolity of the underwear taking nothing away from the model’s power and pride.

Chest hair
Slightly opened mouths
Knees
The soft, pale flesh under a chin.

These kinds of details leave me slack jawed in wonder and driven to try to capture what I see.