My paintings reflect the influence of painters and movements of the mid-1900s. Abstract Expressionism encouraged me to seek what was authentic; the Post Painterly Abstractionists attracted me because of their work’s monumental quality. Milton Avery’s paintings, which do not fit these categories, influence me most of all through their confident composition, gentle clumsy quality and inspiring color combinations. Recently, I was lucky enough to see a show of Richard Diebenkorn’s New Mexico paintings. Those paintings make me want to paint! My approach to painting evolved over more than a decade of making clay sculpture. When working with clay, I was fascinated with the innate qualities of the material. I used color in the form of sprayed oxides to accentuate its form, allowing the clay’s natural behavior to take over. This way of working relinquishes some control over my medium allowing a release of energy to be captured in the work and the beauty of the world to be shown, even what is considered bad or ugly, the possibility of existence without pretense.