I start with an idea, photos, and create sketches. When I have what I want, I draw the composition on the canvas, and using an old master method of underpainting, glazing, and scumbling, I layer the paint and redraw where necessary till the painting corresponds to my feeling that it is done.

I find various ways to emphasize the flat plane of the picture surface (2-dimensional space) and simultaneously afford a view of three-dimensional space—a paradoxical design of seemingly opposing types of perception. In joining flatness with depth, I’m drawing a comparison with the many paradoxes we encounter in our lives.

Our lives are a mix of plans and perplexities that lead us to roads never taken. As I paint, I plan, uncover, recall, reveal, and seek to share the feeling of paradox, of life.

My journey varies from painting to painting, and I use sundry tricks to mold my conception. Some of these enhancements happen at the end of the process, and sometimes I spend considerable time trying to figure out what the painting needs. My first teacher told me that as I became more proficient, I would spend more time thinking about my work and less time executing it. I can often spend an hour thinking about where to place a leaf and then take 15 minutes to paint it.

Our lives are a patchwork of planning and surprises that lead us in new directions, and so are my paintings. As I paint, I plan and discover, recall and explore, and most of all seek to share the feeling of life through paradox.