Often times when I start a new painting I will begin the composition with writing. The concept of writing first started when I was in graduate school at University of California at Berkeley. Part of the MFA program included art criticism and critical theory seminars. It was interesting work but also sometimes difficult to get through the reading. I found that allowing myself to write on my studio walls gave me the space to access and process the ideas being presented. Through the process of repetition I would repeat certain phrases or sentences from the articles until the ideas being communicated became more clear.

Now when I begin a new painting by writing on the canvas it's a way to transition from my work as a designer into my practice as an artist. Sometimes I will allow myself to let the writing become the central focus of the piece, sometimes it ends up just being the foundation. Either way I believe it's the process of repetition that allows me to relax into my process of painting on the canvases which become landscapes of words, memories and thoughts.