In Portland, Oregon, when I was 12 years old, my Mother took me to an exhibition of paintings from the Chrysler Collection. I saw Matisse's The Dance. I even remember where it was hung over the doorway. I also saw my first Rembrandt and my first Picasso, all major works by these Masters. I knew that day I would become an Artist! 

Perhaps because of this early life-altering experience, I have always been much more interested in paintings than most other photographers. When I traveled to Western Europe I went to all the major Art Museums to see paintings! I couldn't get enough of this gourmet ingestion of great art and to this day I still feel the familiar rush of fulfilling excitement when I see wonderful art.

Painting for me is meditation. It is an intuitional leap of faith rather than an imitation of surface “reality”. My paintings tell me what to do and I follow their lead. What I search for and discover is the revelation of universal forms.

In my best works my hand is being guided by a greater wisdom than my own.