I also spend an incredible amount of time obsessing over the details.  Everything seen in a painting is represented by precise drawings which clutter my studio and often are so used as to be unsalvageable. I will work out as many details as possible before touching paint to the paper. I often explain that my paintings are more about drawing than about painting, though I do love color!! My time-consuming obsessive compulsion to detail results in the production of only a few paintings per year.

For subject matter, I frequently use personal experiences and their broader meaning as inspiration. A painting of chocolate in many yummy forms stemmed from a conversation about moderation with my doctor. A work that has an overall joyous feel about it is actually a response to rather sad events. Children's toys confront contemporary cultural issues. I use my painting to work through some angst and sorrow, but I do not wish to depress my viewers. Therefore, the finished paintings are exactly what I want: a delightfully crowded picture through which any viewer is free to make up his or her own story.