My abstract paintings reflect my continuing fascination with rock formations. This fascination began early for me and it is how I connect with the earth and the world around me. Searching to find openings or pathways into these formations is one way I begin my paintings. One vertical stroke can be the beginning or I focus on color with vertical emphasis and then add floating shapes that could be fragments caught in what I imagine as sediment. I go from there developing a dialog with my painting. My view can change during the painting process, it may begin as being inside the earth to flying over the earth as in an aerial view.

When I paint I tell myself stories about the possibilities of mysterious ancient civilizations still existing beneath my feet. These stories just float through my mind while I am working on fusing colors, shapes and symbols. In the past I intentionaly painted these earth layers I called stratascapes, but now they reside in my subconscious and rise to the surface as I paint. The narration takes me back to childhood when I would dig in the woods of east Texas and pretend I was exploring an indian mound, always hoping to find arrowheads and artifacts.

Through the use of dominant color I search for hidden memories of those civilizations. Then using layers of subtle color and suggested pattern I move through the earthy sediment and hope the observer may enter my world.