"When I work I do not think of the reasons that drive me in a certain direction, frankly sometimes explanations are beyond my understanding." Andres Serrano, photographer " Colors speak all languages......" Joseph Addison (1672-1719), prominent English essayist. I almost never start with an image, but with an impulse, with an idea usually derived from my own world - automatic, unmediated, by the conscious mind revealing my inner being. I cannot explain why I paint the way I do, other than because it is what makes sense; it is a refection of myself and the world around me. For me, pondering the "why" is like asking Bach why Minuet III in G major has the notes C,D,F sharp, and G all following each other. Simply, it is right. Replacing the C note with a B flat would note make sense or flow harmoniously, to Bach's liking. Three notes in music can bring beauty into this world - if they are the right three notes - just as three strokes of paint, if they are the right colors, can bring beauty. I paint to create something aesthetically pleasing to me and to the viewer. All colors must work, must play off each other to create something beautiful - in essence, becoming visual music. When I paint, I use color to create line, form, depth, space, and movement - all abstract non-objective. I do not paint to evoke emotion or feeling or to leave a viewer contemplating what really lies in all those strokes of color - although I understand the viewer can equate the colors to those ideas. I paint to create beauty with the simplicity of color.