My art is an extension of my inner emotions, personality, experience and soul. Often, I will go for months without picking up a brush. Nonetheless, I have found this time is not spent idle. My mind is constantly gathering snippets of information sights, sounds, smells, emotions that are filed away in the back of my mind and eventually build to a critical mass. These bits of information can be as simple as a perfect sunflower that I grew in my backyard last summer…the sound and smell of burning rubber, as I slam on my brakes to avoid an accident or the feelings of helplessness I experienced as I saw the sad look on my daughter’s face as she grieved the death of her pet mouse Lucy. I am fascinated by anything strange or different. My eyes are naturally drawn to anything with intense color or texture. Often, I will collect interesting objects, an old rusty license plate, a dry seedpod, a scrap of twisted metal, or a vintage photo and incorporate it into my work.