"When I was young I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time around the Mediterranean. It is no coincidence that most of my favorite painters worked in that part of the world: Cezanne, Picasso, Morandi, Matisse, Giocometti; the list goes on. Bonnard said 'what is beautiful in nature is not always beautiful in painting.' I believe it is this sentiment, among others, that led these painters to 'abstract' from nature rather than to simply copy it's outward appearance. There is no point in trying to paint what the eye sees as if it is disconnected from the rest of you. You may as well be a camera. I am more interested in representing the experience at the core of contemplating objects in nature."
