I paint and draw in order to see the world around me with clarity.    My life is enriched when I get to know other individuals intimately. Through the process of learning and connecting, I get to experience their passion, vulnerability and conflict.  What I want to achieve with my art work is to capture the complexity and personality of my subject and make the viewer feel the same connection that I have.   I work mostly with oil, a versatile and forgiving medium allowing me to explore different textures and brushstrokes for bold and soft effects.  In my work, the subject is always in focused lighting.  I want to create a direct communication between my subject and the viewer, just like when we are in love and we see the object of our affection with great clarity but nothing else around him.  Nan Goldin and Pablo Picasso are great inspirations to me, both of whom communicate the complexity and multi-dimensional quality of an individual without beautifying the subject.  I respond to that complicated feeling and want to capture the subject in an intimate moment with himself.    My latest works include two portrait series, one of flowers and one of human subjects.  The two series are a juxtaposition in that flowers are extraverts, flaunting their beauty without reservation while human beings are often withdrawn, conflicted and difficult to see with clarity.  My greatest challenge is to capture the undercurrents and complexity of emotions in my human subjects.  It is also my great reward when I feel that I have gained an intimate understanding of my subjects through the process of studying and portraying them.