Since January of 2009, I've worked exclusively on this group of mixed-media drawings. All but two were done on a very organic paper handmade in India from recycled rags. I am using various combinations of sumi ink, charcoal, chalk, pastels, graphite, gouache, and acrylic paint. The paper beautifully accommodates this range of materials and its earthy irregularity provides constant push-back to my natural inclination toward refinement and precision. The resulting images have a built-in tension as the result of this balance of control and unpredictability.

I begun each drawing with little or no idea where the process may take me. Initially there is no clear or defined destination; Iâ??m traveling at night and can only see as far ahead as the area illuminated by my headlights. I proceed, trusting that the journey will be a rewarding one - not without a surprise or two - and that it will take me to a new and interesting place. The challenge is to be inventive and open to all possibilities. As the drawing unfolds, an internal logic inevitably develops. I try to stay attuned to this â?? it is what guides me. Although I am working with a vocabulary that I have built through previous works, each drawing has the potential to expand this vocabulary. I let the drawing tell me what it needs.

Iâ??m interested in the referential possibilities of shape and form. I donâ??t want to limit the â??readingâ? of any work â?? I value the idea that any drawing can inspire multiple narratives. The "figures" in my work can be analogous to any number of entities in the external world. And their relationships to one another can suggest interactions between everything from cellular organisms to human beings.

Mixed Media (ink, gouache, charcoal, crayon) on 30 x 22 Arches watercolor paper

Small Paintings in Gouache on Panel

Small Paintings in Gouache on Panel

Gouache, ink on panel.

Gouache, ink on panel

Paintings in gouache and ink on panels.

Paintings in gouache and ink on panel