As a child, I loved sitting in the cool grass, watching the passing clouds overhead. As each cloud shifted and changed with the blowing wind, I would imagine that the clouds could turn into all kinds of different people, animals and objects. I thought that these images drawn from the cloud shapes were a kind of message sent to me from somewhere else.

My mother often interrupted my silent gazing to ask, “What do you see in the sky?” I really wanted to tell her the very long and elaborate list I had created in my head but often I simply could not find the words to express all of it properly.

Observing the world, as a quiet child, I found myself drawn to art making. It was a useful tool. By making a picture, people had a glimpse of what was going on in my mind. In a way, I felt like they could see what I was seeing and at long last, finally understand me.

As I grew older, I was labeled an artist by family, friends and teachers due to my strong need to make pictures. However, I often felt that all people were creative. Aren’t we all artists due to the fact we observe, build, assess and ultimately need to document some form of communication?

In my work, I am interested in exploring visual narratives. Often times, told in fragments and compressed like poetry. This process is both subjective and objective in that, the process is as essential as the craft and representation it serves. I embrace a variety of materials, from oil painting, pastels and drawing to video and installation. It is important that the chosen media best serve to convey the particular message. What I discovered from making art, learning, listening and ultimately teaching art to children myself was that a picture could often be less misunderstood than words. I noticed that people find in art a unique opportunity to be free.

The idea of freedom in art is an important foundation of my work. This intent is reflected in a series entitled “Free Art” in 2000. In this series, I gathered my entire collection of current work to be given away in three cities (Beyond Baroque: Los Angeles, Sushi Performance & Visual Art: San Diego, Giorgio Santini Gallery: Baja Mexico). Concerning myself only with my uncontrollable need to make art. The concept of giving my work away was both challenging and terrifying. My hopes in this project and as an artist, was to create work that is friendly and inviting, strange and yet familiar, and to provide the viewer with something more than they came with. For me, this series was a temporary flight outside of the confines of creative expectations.

Art is everywhere. Whether, it is running stills from video, a small nervous drawing or a random picture taken from a bus as it moves through town, anyone can experience the spontaneous image that triggers the world within. That world can often be incredibly beautiful. My work reflects these quiet observations.