“The meaning is in the doing, the subject is the making of the painting”Brice Marden Nature is sustaining; where I feel whole, at peace and filled with curiosity. This curiosity is the driving force in my studio practice as I search in the making of a painting. My methods and practices support the search for an “unknown something” which I find not possible to articulate. Once discovered a visceral awareness speaks; the language of painting is its own. I begin a painting from an intuitive place using a variety of tools and materials to manipulate the paint surface. The physical nature of applying and removing paint becomes a dynamic push and pull as layers build…. a dance between what it is seen and unseen. This process of searching in a picture is one requiring time and patience, where one must trust in the journey. The resulting paintings are the remains of this process, feeding my curiosity and a need to be fully engaged. Making is personal, requiring an awareness of my inner and outer worlds so I can play and create with an open mind and heart. I look to artists such as Frank Auerbach, Per Kirkeby and Elizabeth Cummings for guidance.