These block paintings are a direct response to the land. Emphasizing painterly qualities of the brush, fields of color interact through gesture in a process-based approach. Each painting evolved with spontaneity and intuition to allow for the composition to be discovered. Layers of collaged canvas and heavy applications of oil paint facilitate dialogues in the work between figure and ground, color and texture, movement and stillness.Like a window into a thin place, these paintings enable contemplative moments to look beyond yourself. They invite your mind to pause and wander throughout the surface of the painting, absorbing the textures, colors, and balance of form. The paintings can be read as landscapes—influenced by the open spaces, tree lined forests and rivers that flow through the prairies of the Midwest.