When beginning a painting, I strive to remember the unexpected rhythms of natural spaces and the juxtaposing visual movements that make up their forms. I do not start with a preconceived notion of the final image, but instead respond to both place and my working surface, building up layers of material. The gestures of my marks attempt to answer the big movements of my observational experience.

My work is rooted in intense periods of looking in order to increase my awareness of place and sensitivity to the environment. When taken away from direct observation, the marks I make lose the specificity of the place, becoming generic. I am interested in creating pockets of space amidst organic gestures that mimic the structures of a landscape and also provide visual rest. By directly observing natural forms, I am able to layer gestures from memory, creating spaces that visually recede next to moments where entry into an area is obstructed. Through this process of superimposing remembered and observed rhythms with my intuitive reaction to those marks, the canvas becomes a new visual experience.