To draw is to create imaginary space where the mind can wander around in with simple materials, a pencil and paper. Drawing realistically hones my direct observation in translating our three dimensional world into the flat two dimensional world. The tricks and illusions to do this fascinate me.

Charcoal has a primal quality, a burnt piece of dusty, gritty wood to create a range of values that satisfies my need to make the two dimensional illusions necessary to bring into focus the three dimensional world, of what is real and what is not.

I draw abstractly because after you know how to draw realistically, what is next? Good abstraction is rooted in the ability to draw realistically. I love to see what visual information I can leave out, and what needs to be there, in order to "read" an image.

One picture is worth a thousand words! An Illustration tells a story and help the viewer to think in pictures. Illustrations are more than an exploration of a visual image or art for art sake. They are purposfully evoking a specific experience, a feeling, a memory that the artist is trying to communicate.

Printmaking is a vast medium to make images with. To make an image, repeatedly with subtle differences in each print, is a challenge and a surprise. Lithography in particular, offers the ability to create the lights and darks of an ink wash along with the tonal ranges of charcoal. The many options in printmaking from monotypes to silkscreens is unlimited. The final pull of a print is exciting and alway new.