I try to keep things changing with my paintings over the years. Try to let my inspiration shift and move freely. I would consider some pieces impressionism but others utilize other painting techniques,; such as balanese painting styles or renaissance layering techniques I have trained in. However, I think as I have gotten older it has moved into something entirely my own, and I do not really try to control it, but just let it be what it is. It sounds cliche but often I can see the painting in my head before it is started and it haunts me. I know I had a good morning painting when everything else falls away, and there is just where colors need to be and what I see in front of me.

Content may be inspired by a certain seasonal color, plant or something that stands out in my life. Other paintings are very specific places I have come to love and want to share with other people who know the intimate details about the location, for instance the type of flower or animal that could be found there.. I try to only stick to places that inspire and move me. The emotions tend to create stronger pieces of art when memories and experiences are involved,

I take photographs everywhere I go, and work from them, often throughout the day and into the night. Often times, if I am doing a specific place, I am working from multiple photographs in order to capture certain things I feel are unique to the place. Also, many rapids cannot be captured in one photo and if you want to see the whole line you have to work from multiple images.

Regardless of how the paintings start, I end up having to sit with them for a while.. You live with them in your house for a while and decide what you want to adjust and what still needs work. Paintings need to be lived with, walked past in many types of light and moods before they are finished. You are telling a story after all, of where you were and what it was like to stand there in person.

ani