For over a decade Rice Lake has been the point of departure for  long-term study and painting source material. This single place, that faces westward into oncoming weather moving over the lake, has facilitated constant formal experimentation and allowed me to respond on a visceral level to the constantly shifting situations of climate, time of day and season..

For three years I focused on naturalistic oil studies on one size canvas (40" x 30" vertical format) leaving all the decision making to the image and focused on what I was experiencing of the lake. The focus was purely on observations of the view and of my responses to it so I was able to refine my technical and visual memory skills.

From there I began to experiment formally and worked through several different techniques and styles in acrylics and oils. These works were all done in an unconscious automatic way to allow my subconscious mind to work and because I believed it was the only way for me to find something universal yet uniquely my own to say and express.

In these paintings, from the first brush stroke on the painting lead me rather than me leading it and the results were always an unexpected combination of representational and non-objective elements.