The Weighing of Souls, 40" x 36"
mixed media on wood, 2001

The vehicle of abstraction is integral to my process. Through it I find a direct access to the energy and spirituality invested in the different cultures from around the world. The 5 months spent teaching at the Yunnan Art Institute in Kunming, along with working and traveling throughout China's Yunnan Province in 1996 presented me with a revelatory experience. It introduced me to my own insights, into ideas I had been intuitively cultivating in previous work. The experience of China, their blend of ancient and contemporary customs now helped me to combine consciously philosophical, emotional, physical and metaphysical energies into paintings.

Since that time I have participated in artist exchanges with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Germany and Bulgaria. While the original purpose was to share artwork with the peoples of these cultures, I have also been fortunate to spend time with them personally experiencing their lives, traditions, and food. And, in doing so, I've accumulated ever richer experiences in my memory which become reserves for future paintings, drawings, digital prints and video.