Painting is my way of grasping at sanity. Since participating in the “Faces of Raleigh” program, I have been captivated by the stories faces tell: the achievement of bliss, an invisible struggle, the resentment of joy, the passive acceptance of the absurd, and a journey into sanctuary for victims of deportation. I know all the people I paint. My knowledge of their stories ranges from intimate to mere implication.

I feel a need to capture an emotional essence. I use a photograph like a map- it helps me plot my location, but once I am there, I wander in my own way, through the crags and valleys of the subjects character.

I enjoy a range of working styles from careful and intentional to wild and free, I use brushes, knives, fingers, and anything else that is within reach. Painting takes me out of my head and away from responsibility where I am free to enjoy a singular focus on the physicality of drawing brush through paint, scraping pallet knife over canvas, and squishing paint between my fingers. The continual movement and transformation are a balm for my soul, a secret place where everything is just as it should be.