I primarily use geological structures, trees, and other forms in nature to draw parallels to the human experience. I have seen in the natural world that what is struck down, crushed, cut or splintered is not destroyed, but rather remains and overcomes, even though greatly transformed.  
 
At an art residency many years ago in the remote far northwestern corner of British Columbia the forces of stone and ice, and of uplift and erosion, were everywhere I looked. Mountains, glaciers, lakes and the vast spaces between them existed in a cacophony of creation and destruction. Before I began the residency I painted with watercolors as I had been doing for many years, but the intensity of the vistas outside my painting studio and the intensity of the forces moving in my life made strong blacks and whites and a variety of grays more effectively express the journey I had begun. I do return to color at times but I call upon the strength of black to powerfully express the strong forces that still rise up within me.   
 
I respond to the language of the natural world in my work with bold marks on paper to express resilience, defiance and reverence. Allegories and themes are revealed to me in the tactile and strenuous process of mark making. I prefer to work on large sheets of Arches hot press paper to feel physically encompassed by my work. I primarily carbon black acrylic paint on the paper to forcefully express my emotions against the opposing strength of a wall, table or the floor.  I rarely use a brush in a traditional manner and most often draw, scrape, twist and scumble the media with various objects, many of which are found in nature.