My paintings combine two passions: making art and collecting - linking the past, present and future through inanimate objects, memories and relationships. Figures and objects are dramatically lit, some intentionally blurred to obscure positive identification, yet remaining vaguely familiar.

The subjects of my work are as diverse as my interests. I use a variety of props for my compositions, including toys, matches, fire, trophies and portraits of family, friends and students. My compositions often imitate master portraiture - severely cropped or dramatically positioned subjects on dark backgrounds void of object and scenery. I choose objects that evoke personal, sometimes nostalgic, responses for me and elevate their status in an attempt to find meanings beyond face value.

Toys evoke for me memories of playtime. My growing collection of toys includes mostly cars and motorcycles, but G.I. Joe and army men are mainstays in any boy's toy chest, including mine. Toy soldiers - whether plastic or lead - symbolize to me a popular fascination with the hero and violence. Well-worn lead soldiers and mutilated plastic army men provide layers of meaning. The chips and dings are proof of some child's vigorous play, but they also symbolize the very real battle scars brought home by war veterans.

I see political and social commentary in the kinds of toy military figures provided to children for play. Vintage sets reflect pre-WWII values that celebrated a community war effort by including medics, nurses, flag bearers, buglers, cooks and other support figures. Post WWII sets manufactured in a time dominated by anti-war movements provide only the warriors and weapons. Today, children play war games in space with intergalactic monsters and laser guns, a cultural attempt to soften the reality of war even while violent images of world conflict enter our lives through TV and the Internet.

Like war, fire can be a primordial symbol of the destructive and constructive nature of humankind. Fire is sensuous. Its beauty is in its power. Fire can take away in an instant something precious, but it can also cleanse. Fire can simultaneously wipe away the past while welcoming the future, leaving scars as a reminder. To me, images of fire, candles and matches are powerful symbols of both the destructive forces and hope for renewal caused by events that surround me.

The human figure - whether real or represented by a toy or object - is symbolic of emotion and thought through expression and stature. Trophies are often gross representations of human anatomy meant to symbolize significant events or accomplishments. In my paintings, they are treated as heroic portraits not unlike those of the rich and powerful found in master works. As with the army man portraits, they are interpretations of represented human form, depicting something unreal as significant. Master painters often used unnamed models to represent historical figures and events. The models were painted not as portraits but to portray the story in the artist's work. In my paintings, I substitute the unnamed model with manufactured figures to capture the human experience.

From conceptualization to the final brush stroke, each of my paintings is unique and labor intensive. The process of creating a new work begins by capturing inspiration in a found object and transferring form and meaning to canvas. Some works take weeks to finish, some take months. Others are never complete.

Some say there are two ways to approach image making. One is to be influenced by the surrounding environment. Another is to create primarily from an inner world without external reference. My images rely on both. The common thread that binds my work is time: nostalgia for the past, recognition of former achievements, moments captured in a glance or pose and the power in a flame's brief life. My aim has always been to create intellectually and emotionally significant statements of the soul.