My paintings are meant to express the energy and vitality of living things.

My recent work incorporates vinelike loops twining through branches and hanging from the tops of the canvas. Branches cross and recross in layers. Foreground and background seem to shift, while unexpected color draws the eye and denies it a place to rest.

I prefer to keep my paintings as spontaneous as possible, so I don't plan them out beyond a small pencil sketch and three or four main colors to set the mood. They start out well ordered but get chaotic quickly, and I often end up making a big scribbly mess before I finally manage to organize the chaos into an image that is meditative, yet dynamic. The end result is nearly always a surprise.

With this exhibit I wish to provide a cohesive experience like a walk through a forest. The trees are always striving to grow and thrive, coexisting but also competing.

For influences, I think of the profound quiet of the Rothko Chapel and the spontaneousness of Joan Mitchell's work melded with Mondrian's Broadway Boogie Woogie and the later works of Chuck Close.