Working in oil and cold wax allows me to use my luscious oil colors, add lots of layers quickly and create all kinds of fascinating marks, all without the long wait time for layers to dry. They don't dry instantly, but I don't have to wait days between each layer.

This initial group of paintings has lots of thin layers of color. Nothing beats a brayer for laying down one color on top of another, building up a history.

Marks are scratched into the surface to reveal colors shimmering just below. Patterns are rolled onto the surface to add another dimension. There are hard edges and lost ones to guide your eye around the piece.

I am forever seduced by color, juxtaposing one hue against another, layer after layer, until suddenly the piece sings. The wide color shapers, bowl scrapers, palette knives and other tools I like to use are perfect with oil and cold wax.

I love the uncontrolled marks created with these tools. I've been asked, what do you mean by “uncontrolled”? It's that I never know exactly what will show up when I scratch through, I never know the exact pattern a brayer will lay down, I can never repeat or copy a particular mark, this is the magic.

One color or mark leads to another, a back and forth dance begins. Each new mark brings a response, the initial marks are uncontrolled but then the response is carefully chosen. The piece develops slowly, until suddenly it feels complete. These new pieces are much simpler, I'm enjoying focusing on color and practicing “less is more”. There are color contrasts to add interest and just enough value contrasts to be compelling in low light when the colors fade away.