When I stare at a blank canvas I have one of several emotions. One is excitement for I am looking at a perfectly blank canvas that holds infinite possibilities and I can’t wait to begin. Another is fear because I am looking at a perfectly blank canvas that holds infinite possibilities and I have no idea of what I want to do. I have a saying on the door in my studio: “Painting is easy. All you have to do is stare at a blank canvas  until drops of blood appear on your forehead”

Unless I am working on a commission, I rarely have an idea of where a work is going to take me.  I will see a wonderful shape, like a pear or an unusual something on the street, that intrigues me, and  that will become the basis for an entire painting. Once I have begun to make some markings on my canvas, I enter into a kind of a conversation with it. The work truly tells me what it needs. I think of each work as a puzzle that has never been solved before. The puzzle is the composition, a unique grouping of shapes. The puzzle is also finding the perfect color. My task is to find the best way to put them together.

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