During the twenty-five mile drive from Austin to my studio in Elgin, I often see flocks of blackbirds forming unpredictable shapes which appear as dark solid forms against the sky. In reality, the birds are swarming in every direction. Scientists call this phenomenon "murmuration." In a process that remains a mystery, the birds, numbering in the thousands, rapidly transmit directional changes. The shape that they make soars and alters in the sky as a single unit within it, each bird flies on its own independent trajectory. In my paintings, I refer to these "murmurations" , creating a stark contrast between the interior turbulence created by the multiple brush marks and the more defined edges of the overall form. As in nature, in my paintings, order is constantly poised on the brink of chaos. I strive to emulate the tension between these two opposing forces, (order and chaos) that these murmurations embody. The moment of instability is what drives my paintings.