statement

Color and pattern are the two most important parts of making a painting for me. When I start a piece, I have a general idea of the pattern and colors but I have no preconceived idea of the result.

I was a weaver for many years and had to determine everything I was going to do before I started making the piece - the colors (which I dyed myself), the composition, and the values. It was not possible to see the work as it progressed because it rolled up on the beam as I moved the warp forward. The making of the piece was the long and laborious part of the work as the creative part was finished before the weaving even started.

Since 1995 I have been off the loom and working on a surface which I can see in total all of the time. I greatly enjoy the freedom this has given me and now I am not required to know anything for sure in advance.

As a painting progresses day by day, I change colors and values and often the composition. One aspect of nonobjective painting is the content of the piece comes from some interior personal source.  Unlike a landscape, a portrait or a still life painter, I do not have a scene, model or objects to refer to when painting.  This makes painting both harder and, at the same time, easier.  It is more difficult because I create my own content but easier because I have no restrictions.