I love houses. As a child I lived in an old house that was constantly being modified. My grandfather who lived nearby was an excellent carpenter and was able to make many unique home alterations. The entire floorplan changed, closets were added, doorways were moved. All of these changes gave me a perspective on both the long term semi-permanence of houses, and the fluctuations that a house can go through.

In the winter of 1990 I took a trip to Germany and found the differences in perspective on time there vs. in the U.S. interesting. In Europe there are many buildings that are more than 1000 years old; and here we think that 100 years is a long time. The beautiful half-timber houses really fascinated me. They impressed me as a living part of the past still useful in the present time. They are so beautiful! As soon as I returned to the United States I started drawing villages of half-timber houses.

My first drawings were much more linear and more realistic looking. Around 1995 I wanted to make a picture with a little more abstraction in which direction up was. I drew a globe with a dozen houses on the perimeter. Somehow starting to play with this was the starting point in letting go of such sharp angles on houses and I began letting them take on a bit less rigid shapes. It became addictive. I filled several sketch books with similar houses.

Along with houses my drawings usually have elements of nature in them, too. Every autumn I collect and press colorful leaves and spend time enjoying contemplating their shapes. As a child I spent a lot of time in the country observing seasonal changes.