“I divide my time between drawing and painting, but charcoal is my first choice in the winter. The low light of winter simplifies the landscape. Trees and snow form into sharp silhouettes of black and white, and charcoal is all I need. Trees that hold their needles like pine, hemlock, and cedar dominate in the drawings, providing dark solid shapes supported and balanced by the contrasting white. I burn wood to warm my studio and I’ve even tried to draw with the charcoal in the bottom of the stove, but it won’t make a mark – it’s too hard. None of my drawings are pictures of a particular places, but I make mental notes while I am out walking. Deep woods are beautiful, unorganized, and complex. Messiness and chaos have their place.”