My paintings are the result ofthe progression of my relationship with the places in which I have lived. Theyare deliberate explorations charting the creation of a personal sense of place,becoming intimately acquainted with the natural and human-induced patterns inthe landscapes and their subtle features, changes and cycles. I choose toexplore these places through the river systems that course through them. Riversconnect one place to another rendering one place dependenMy paintings are the result of the progression of my relationship with the places in which I have lived. They are slow explorations charting the creation of a personal sense of place, becoming intimately acquainted with the natural and human-induced patterns in the landscapes and their subtle features, changes and cycles. I choose to explore these places through the river systems that course through them. Rivers connect one place to another rendering one place dependent on the next, relating seemingly disparate areas. Often I return to specific locations, recording the colors of the waters and looking for the intersections of humans and the natural landscape. I view things like garbage and man-made material as a bridge between the natural wild areas and ourselves, markers that we have been here, leaving bits and pieces of our passing behind. I look for the things that usually go unnoticed, the small things and the slowly changing things.

Because of the deep relationship I have developed with rivers as a kayaker, kayaking instructor, and traveling throughout the world to pursue the sport, I have become acutely aware of our society's disconnect with our river systems: our life source. Through art, I am able to not only connect myself more completely with the river systems in which I live, and consequently the land itself and its myriad characteristics, but can also begin to heighten the viewer's awareness of our river systems.

I am intrigued with therelationship that we have with the river – the interplay of the naturalcomponents of the river with the things we introduce into it, both the tangibleand intangible. In seemingly untouched, pristine places I find traces ofourselves everywhere. I am drawn to the distortions created by the river onactual objects and our own perceptions, ourselves, and the rivers themselves. Iam motivated by the need to find the ways I am integrated within the greaterlandscape in which I find myself and to develop a sense of place, a sense ofbelonging.

I often approach a particularsubject through a series of closely related groups of paintings.  In this way I can incorporate the concept oftime with the medium of painting. Each individual painting within a groupingrepresents a distinct point in time, but grouped with its counterparts, thepaintings begin to tell the story not only of the physical shifting nature oflight and water on a particular object in the river, but also the shiftingnature of the focus of our own attention as we observe that object throughout alength of time.