I am continually driven to analyze and to try to understand the effects of light and atmosphere on colour—and then using my ability as an artist to decipher and record those effects. I constantly strive to learn how to perfect my skills as a painter, in any given style or medium, and to understand how colour itself can have such a profound emotional effect on the viewer.
Over the past few years, I have been particularly drawn by rural landscapes, to try to capture the essence and beauty of what remains of the farmlands and rivers. In contrast, the particular vulgarity of industry has also captured my attention. I have been intrigued by the simultaneous offensiveness of smoke stacks with the intense beauty of sunlit smoke. It’s another duality, like contrasts in general, that appeal to me.
Otherwise, the question of what inspires me to create art is nearly impossible to answer. Art is not a question of inspiration—it’s a question of necessity. Some people communicate what they see with words; I feel my best expressions are painted.