I prefer to paint present-day subjects, drawn from the world around me. Archetypes and metaphors, for those who look for them, can be found in contemporary life as readily as in the past.

Capturing a particular effect of light gives me great satisfaction. I sense a tremendous intelligence in the way light behaves, and I try to let it reveal itself in my paintings. In many ways, light is the true subject of each work, whatever is depicted.

My oil paintings are built in layers that grow almost organically, usually over many sessions of looking closely at the subject. The immediacy of a more alla prima approach also has its place in my work, in passages or sometimes in an entire painting.

Much of my technique is based on Dutch and Flemish practices of the mid-1600s, using traditional materials and methods. I use several kinds of white for underpainting and mixing, to create the effects of light and texture each passage needs, and I often grind pigments into paint myself, which I have found gives the finest paint. Rather than limiting myself to a few colors, I use a broad palette of up to 20 lightfast, permanent colors, both historical and modern.

I am continually in awe of how an oil painting can hold such depth, both physical and psychological.

In the end, what matters most to me is that a painting, through its beauty, communicates powerfully to the viewer on both a conscious and an emotional level.