I paint in acrylics with my fingers. For the past twenty years, this has been the most consistent element in how my work is made. The pieces I’ve submitted in this application are examples of this. They also reflect my recent experimentation with painting in glazing layers on top of paper affixed to a canvas. The paper I use naturally contracts and expands in reaction to being sealed and affixed to another substrate, which creates the textural “crinkling” effect observable on the surface of my work. The application of paint via transparent glazing layers - tiny amounts of color mixed with a gel medium and applied one sheer color at a time - help achieve a smoothly blended effect. On a contextual level, my paintings have an “aboutness” that revolves around personal difficulty, religious contemplation, contemplative prayer, trauma and good fortune. I consider my work to be thank-you letters to God.