Words as image are a central part of my imagery in paintings, book arts, and prints, leading to my current obsession with letterforms and wall writing.

I use encaustic to create obscured surfaces with layers of ink handwriting on Japanese handmade paper. Each layer is infused with translucent encaustic, and additional writing is created with inscribed lines enhanced with oil stick. Writing is deliberately obscured to create the feeling of historical surfaces one might find on an ancient wall layered over a period of centuries.

My goal is to create dense, ancient, fresco like surfaces. The transparency of layers created with encaustic, and the ability to uncover lost imagery is very appealing to me, and is central to the intuitive method I use in developing my paintings and books.

Large brushes develop patterns and large words as they are dragged over the rough texture of the paper.  Various layers of writing with brushes, calligraphy pens are added as texture using words of chess, like the names of the pieces, game terms and general words of war, like crusade, pawn chains, knight. These paintings are meant to contain the energy of life and war, or possibly broken communiqués used in a war. They are also inspired by Japanese calligraphy and the idea that art is not perfect.

My work evolves in series, whether pages of a book or a group of paintings, investigating visual aspects of a symbol or idea.  My painted books are made with collographs, intaglio & woodcut printing as well as paint and writing in many layers to achieve a rich and unexpected surface, each book unique.  The paintings and the books cross-fertilize each other, and sometime I am uncertain whether the handwriting pages may become a book or a painting.& woodcut printing as well as paint and writing in many layers to achieve a rich and unexpected surface, each book unique.  The paintings and the books cross-fertilize each other, and sometime I am uncertain whether the handwriting pages may become a book or a painting.