I enter neighborhoods through my interest in cars by my car. When I see something I get my canvas and gear out of my car, and sit on the road and paint. I invent from life, by drawing from my immediate surroundings and combining different moments together, moments that might have gone unnoticed or weren't so important on their own. I think about the details that I notice from a neighborhood. I think of my paintings as collections of observations.

In my mind, I take a mental snapshot of the place that I have painted. I compare it with the painting that I completed of that location and every time I drive by, the feeling of when I first saw it, and of how I felt about the place after I had finished the painting arises. It's a way that I frame the work and through plein air painting I have a heightened sense of familiarity. I get to know the place better, sincerely. I am interested in the spirit of a place. It can be emotional but this is a somatic experience and this is how my painting helps me understand the world.