I sold my first work of art at the age of six. I’d painted a boat for my kindergarten project and the other kids each paid me a nickle to paint one for them. That’s when I knew I’d always be a painter. When I moved to Seattle from the dry hills of NM more than twenty years ago the work I did was profoundly impacted by this region. So much water. So much beauty. I paint a lot of what I see in this Great Northwest and my greatest pleasure is finding ways to capture the unique spirit and soul of the place in a fresh and exciting way. I strive to keep my paintings full of life and movement, deconstructing the internal meaning of the subject to show the complex bare bones. I like incorporating metal leafs because I’m never quite sure what the stuff’s going to do. I’ll stick it to the surface of a finished painting and then apply a mild acid. Sometimes the acid eats the metal until there’s just about nothing left. Sometimes it remains virtually untouched. Like the Sound and the sea, it’s unpredictable and it reminds me that I’m not really the one in charge. As an artist it’s a most freeing and exhilarating way to create.