When I am painting I begin in a place of disconnect and confusion. What do I paint, where do I go, what do I want to communicate? It’s not always easy to get connected, and days of frustration and aggravations can pass before I realize all the walls have faded away and I’ve reached the zone and ideas begin to flow. Invariably that place is a place of joy and delight no matter how hard I try for the dramatic. And I am transported to that feral five-year-old catching tadpoles in the creek.