I prefer to draw or paint from life. At its best, I feel a strong connection with my subject and I'm no longer aware of myself except as a channel.
I'm interested in the living moving creature or tree, and out in the field I use mixed water-based media: water-soluble pastels, pencils and inks, so I can work quickly.
The importance of marks as evidence of touch; the actual feeling of the hand on the pencil as a conduit between the thing observed and myself as observer. We have all drawn pictures as children; hence marks connect us with our past, our ancestors; our future descendants; and also with each other, our contemporaries.
Working in print, such as etching, allows me to develop further the original on-the-spot drawings and the image takes on more of a life of its own, freed from reference to the subject.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c3d927_48ed171ded4b448496799c7d47dc4a50~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_477,h_240,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/c3d927_48ed171ded4b448496799c7d47dc4a50~mv2.jpg)
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c3d927_5eb2f0fe5166421cbb10af672732264d~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_477,h_253,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/c3d927_5eb2f0fe5166421cbb10af672732264d~mv2.jpg)