I grew up in an era of experimentation.  In a culture that was celebrating it - the USA of the 1970s and 1980s.  Because of that I often learned more about the innovators standing on the shoulders of masters than I ever did of any master.  I read Wide Sargasso Sea before Jane Eyre.  Kate Bush introduced me to Wuthering Heights.  The Wooster Group is how I knew The Crucible and I knew much more of Sue Coe and Andy Warhol than I did of Da Vinci and Caravaggio (who I learned about from Derek Jarman). I loved these artists and I wanted to be like them.  

When I was about 15 I did my own experimenting.  I drew wild squiggly irregular faces.  But then I began to question whether I could draw a realistic face and body.  I found I could not.  I was a teenager and because I couldn’t just pick up a pencil and draw well, I decided I never could.  I stopped and if anyone ever asked if I was an artist, I would tell them I couldn’t draw.  I didn’t try to draw or paint for 30 years. 

Now it’s come full circle.  I feel comfortable with traditional drawing as well as experimenting again.  Below is a series of drawings and paintings that are not traditional in form and content but that I think show a lot of expression and emotion.