Artist Statement

Since 2014, I have been painting large-scale, close-up portraits. Their eyes gaze directly at the viewer, and the paintings provide an intimate, powerful experience of a true meeting.

I choose models from my family, friends and acquaintances, all of whom have some quality that intrigues and inspires me and from whom I learn.

I take photographs of my models, and my intention is to find the real in the photograph and put that into paint. Real, as in alive. Photo-realism is not my goal, and I agree with Matisse that exactitude is not truth.

I don’t use grids or projections and want to be true to my experience of the subject during the entire painting process. As I paint I see more clearly and make changes - this is all part of the process, which I believe adds depth to the paintings.

The more I work on someone’s portrait, the deeper I see. The more I see, the more I can put that into the portrait. But this process can’t really be separated into parts, as it all happens together.

When you are with someone in an intimate way, where you are close and meeting their gaze, for a moment time can seem stopped. For a moment, no separation is created by the mind. Awareness sees awareness, and recognizes itself.

This is the offering of my art – to invoke that experience of stillness and oneness which we sense when we truly connect, and which I also find in the painting process. In this mind-stopping connection, transmission is a beautiful and natural byproduct.

My paintings may aim for a sense of timelessness, but the process itself takes a long time. Some of my paintings have taken up to or even more than a year to complete. I paint as long as I see more depth I can bring to the portrait, and that seems to grow as I mature as an artist. I learn more and more that the depths we can explore with painting and portraiture are truly endless, just as each subject has infinite being to explore.

The paintings are best seen in person, as photographs of the paintings return them to small photographs, and the scale, intimacy and physical presence, essential to experiencing the portraits, are lost.

I'd like to share my deep gratitude to all my models. You are all wonderful teachers and it was an honor to paint you.