I’m a painter and collage artist, and I work in mixed media, 3-D also and assemblage using discarded stuff I find ion the street and manikins. I work in acrylic, oil and anything I can get my hands on. When I am working abstractly I start each painting, drawing or 3-D piece with a broad sense of exploration. My materials energize me and It’s the most fascinating part of my process of working. I use no visual references, but allow my memory and intuition to guide and surprise me. Finishing the work is the most intense and thoughtful. I like to work in series of a certain theme. Most recent is my series of large abstract paintings examining the place of words in human society. The expression, “Behind every realistic painting is an abstract painting” could be rendered, “Behind every word spoken is something to look at. Lately I’ve retur4ned to working more figuratively than pure abstract with a new series on family. My process in creating my figurative works begins with drawing. I maintain a regular daily practice of drawing and sketching but the actual painting is about the painting’s story itself. I violate a lot of rules, yet I find there is so much to explore in simplicity, and to me the most impacting stories are told simply yet from a place of deep emotion. A dedicated faith walk with God has been my motivating factor in all things in my life. Painting is an intimate relationship with the materials, the ideas and the journey into a visual world that didn’t exist before. Ezra Pound’s famous edict to the artist/writer, “Make it new,” has become a foreboding mantra in art schools and studios, its only antidote being. “Make it true.”