Artist Statement

The moment between two emotions, facial expressions, or gestures is like the period of rest between two musical notes. It is when we are most open, a time of unselfconscious transition when it is possible to glimpse the soul. I attempt to capture this moment on canvas.

Scale counts. Because we form kinesthetic or "gut" impressions of people through body language, I paint life-size, full figures. Smaller images, like those in snapshots, become intellectualized ideas about people, diminishing the fullness of our response because the whole-body reaction is missing.

Specificity counts. I shoot reference photographs to capture a momentary glance in the eyes, a transient smile, the shifting movement of a body. Searching these frozen records, I discover visual nuances in my subject, structural design, and the arrangement of clothing shapes which I find fascinating in their spontaneous but perfect organization.

Craft counts. I combine a photo-realistic rendering technique with transparent washes and flat opaque color in a unique way. Where the edges of the washed rendering meet opaque color, both are explained by their difference.

Edges count. My preference for the elongated rectangle allows me to explore the personal space around my subject. The edges of my subject also engage the canvas boundaries, and each is enhanced by the compositional tension created.

The elegance of a glimpsed moment requires sharp, delineated focus through clean, unencumbered compositions. Upon studying my subject's candid presence, it is possible for us to have an impression of their interior life.