I am an expressionist painter. I use gouache on paper to explore the essential ingredients of painting which for me are color, gesture, and movement. I was an observational painter of landscapes and still life, using oil paint. Ten years ago, I moved to New York and began to work in gouache in my apartment. Much to my surprise I asked myself “what would my paintings look like if I no longer painted from observation?” I learned to trust my intuition, and slowly the marks became liberated from the image. Through trial and error, I taught myself the qualities of gouache that make it special. It is water soluble, has a quick drying time, gorgeous rich color, and the colors change during the drying process. I learned to go with the flow. My priority is to make a visually compelling piece that celebrates the essentials of painting. I now live in Cambridge, Mass.