"The truth of things is best read in refuse." Roland Barthes

Like the statement by Barthes, my attention gravitates to the time-worn detritus of the world. I collect images of asphalt, sidewalks, walls, doors and old structures. Stains of all kinds interest me, as do natural deposits and oxidation. An object that has been affected by time, weather and use is beautiful to me. When I paint I feel like an archeologist discovering new (old) treasures.

I do not preconceive a painting. I start perhaps with a thread of an idea, a color, or maybe a feeling. Once the painting is underway I try not to let my mind interfere too much, aiming to paint with an intuitively physical approach, letting the process take me to a unknown place. With the paint, I scratch, incise, smooth over, cover and uncover. This activity is like an excavation, a mining of subconscious space. Indecipherable writing is a carrier of feeling and the voice of an interior landscape.

Echoing the way I ruminate, the imagery comes and goes, remaining visible or being submerged. It is a conversation kept going by trusting my instincts. "Making" in this manner feels authentic to me. It is a reflection of the natural cycle of creation and destruction.