Painting has been my obsession since I can remember. A Masters from American University (studying with Robert D'Arista), four children and a household, and teaching drawing and painting at the Washington Studio School have done nothing to diminish the intensity.

Disparate artists feed my painting: Rembrandt's lecherous last self-portrait, the unrelenting psychological drama in Caravaggio's "Betrayal of Christ", da Vinci's ambiguous "Last Supper", Egon Schiele's barbed wire incisions, and the edge in Diebenkorn's "Ocean Park" series. The human figure, particularly in dance, physically affects and distracts me.

The apprehension of rational and irrational space and light is compelling. Space and light are one and the same. At the core of a painting's energy is the tension that comes from irresolvable conflict. There is no preconception, no easy accommodation. I count on nothing. Each painting is the detritus of battle.