Often I'm asked what inspires me to create such colorful and eclectic paintings. Living in the Bay Area for most of my life as well as having lived in the Philippines during my childhood, has afforded me an unlimited stream of seemingly ordinary subjects from which I can bring to life on canvas.

Most of my work explores the diverse culture, objects, neighborhoods and landscapes that I see around me on a daily basis. My paintings fuse these images together along with a bold palate and unique perspective to convey the strength and intensity of my subjects.

I draw trees, branches, twigs, buds, leaves, tendrils, nests, reeds, weeds, stems, grasses, vines, and shrubs in charcoal, graphite, encaustic, and pastel. Lines entice, the spaces between beckon.

I have a deep affinity for old stuff - funky junk, rusty things, bits and pieces of detritus most often referred to by the uninitiated as "garbage" or "trash".  ( Ah! but therein lies the idiom! )  Often, If it speaks to my soul, I leave the tattered and threadbare unadorned... but mostly, I live to make things! -put a new spin on an old standard; uncover the 'art heart' of a found object, recycle and restyle timeworn finds.  I love to put paint to paper, walls, canvas and furniture. Color it in!  Embellish it up!  Strip it down!  Whee!  I'm drawn in particular to whimsical themes and the thrill of the unexpected.  Second-hand DOGS are likewise my passion. ( Is there is a more profoundly beautiful artistic tome than Berkeley Breathed's  "Flawed Dogs: The Year End Leftovers At the Piddleton "Last Chance" Dog Pound" ? Not in my world, my friend! )  Canine "beauty in imperfection" can be found snoozing  in every stuffed chair and sunny spot at my home studio, The Sit and Stay Atelier.  My dogs are a constant source of inspiration, artistic and otherwise.  And should there ever be a shortage of shopworn chairs needing a make-over - the dogs will happily tatter to order.  The coffee's hot -c'mon over!

I create photograms: photographs that are made without the use of a camera. This 19th century process has an immediacy, rawness and truth that is not found in images created with a camera. I layer natural and man-made elements such as water, plants and rope on the surface of silver-based photographic paper. The paper is exposed to light from an enlarger to create a shadowy silhouette image. Then I lay myself and others on top of the photo paper and make another exposure, which results in a collage effect.