Throughout my art career, I’ve worked from life, but around the mid-aughts I began making focused paintings of interiors. I started by painting in my home, then in spaces belonging to friends and people they knew. Next, I was invited to paint in strangers’ living and workspaces, and eventually I was commissioned to paint architectural exteriors. My current painting practice emphasizes community and common spaces in Milwaukee. When an interior space is the subject, I consider it to be a kind of scaled-up still life composed of objects that represent the people that live and work within it. When I move outdoors, my subject expands to become a portrait capturing a moment within the changing landscape of the city.

I paint on location primarily in oils, but I also spend time in the studio working out compositions or finishing details. I’m a portable painter, because I find the act of painting outside the studio to be richer in human interactions and subject matter that are not adequately captured in photos or even my imagination. I like to engage in what I call perceptual inquiry that requires me to be present. I love color, light, pattern, geometry, and the immersive experience of being surrounded by my subject matter.

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