For the past several years I have been working on a series of paintings that deal with cultural expectations and their visual counterparts. I want to explore and to manipulate the meaning behind the images of cultural kitsch. Chinese nodders saved from the dashboard of my Dad's 1956 Plymouth were the subject of the first painting in this series. By blowing up the nodders to "god-like" proportions, I hoped to change both the nature and the intent of these dash board trinkets. My paintings often take months to complete; traditional techniques are employed, using an underpainting and multiple layers of glaze. I usually work from life in a studio filled with dogs, kids and chaos.