I create portraits of mammals with an emphasis on the individuality inherent within each creature. It is my intent to show the viewer a mirror—an image of the earthy, biological and creative origins we share with these animals. In my paintings, I question the assumption that we are as profoundly separate from and superior to other creatures as we have been led to believe in our Western culture. This belief is inconsistent with earth-based, indigenous systems of experience that have long held my interest.

My creative process is somewhat unconventional; I don't sketch before beginning a painting. When entering the studio I don't know what my subject or palette will be. I make choices according to my mood and by what draws my interest immediately before beginning a painting. This approach keeps my work honest and raw both technically and energetically. I work with acrylic, charcoal, pastel and occasionally dried clay on unstretched and generally unprimed canvas nailed to a wall. I paint this way out of an aversion to the “perfect,” and for me, unnatural look and feel of stretched, primed canvas. I work directly on a wall because I like the feel of something solid and real behind my brush when I paint. It is a surface that stands up to me when I push hard, and unprimed canvas is a material that soaks up water like the earth. The accidental nature of paint dripping down and soaking into the raw canvas is an important aspect of my work. This quality helps to give the paintings a life of their own, rather than one I could choose for them more directly, in a more controlled way. The loose, impasto brush work I use reinforces the natural, earthy content of the paintings.