STATEMENT ON LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS

The first group of paintings are images from the 2006 wildfires in Simi Valley, California. Having grown up in Thousand Oaks, California, I always looked forward to the wildfire season. Living in close proximity to the fires changed the colors of the sky from sunrise to moonrise. While ash fell from the sky like snow, the sun rose in the morning as a bright pink ball. At night I could see flames in the distant hils, while the moon appeared under an orange haze of ash and fog. Now as a painter, I seek to convey the wildfire's horror and surreal beauty.

Southern California exists as a place where one sees the world through a car window. I see the car window as a viewfinder. My favorite time of day is the twilight — when the sky turns electric blue, and colors fade from palm trees and houses. The only disturbance in this moody world are the oncoming headlights of other cars, momentarily blurring one's vision. By capturing this moment of confusion, my paintings refer to the recognizable iconography of Southern California in a new and mysterious way .