Inspired by aged faces that hint at lives fully lived, I paint vivid portraits that celebrate the lines of experience etched on a face – crow’s feet of happiness, crevices of sorrow, creases that tell of good and hard times. My portraits are jubilant riots of vibrant colors that wander somewhere between realism and caricature.

The eyes in each portrait, often over-sized, reveal the subject’s story; capturing that flash of experience, humor or melancholy which can be shared in a single glance. Although I use photographs as my starting point, I rely predominantly on the free-flowing processes of memory and creative imagination, and all of my paintings eventually turn into concealed self-portraits;

Under the brush strokes are the words and the hearts on every sleeve.