My Still Lifes represent the fall of light upon a variety of textures. I arrange items in a manner that is meant to stimulate the viewer beyond the painted surface: usually intended to imply an event or story, often countering humor with sadness. My paintings are conceptual - idea driven - while still drawing from the genre's rich history of observation. Viewers are thus invited into my fictional "Kingdom" wherein ordinary and not so ordinary objects comprise characters: a mainstay of which are origami dragons. "Keys to the Kingdom" for example, depicts two dragons confronting one another in an undefined power-struggle as onlookers watch. The objects themselves are selected for their symbolism as well as aesthetic contribution, and so must pass through intellectual "filters" in order to participate within a constructed scene: many of which have a personal connection for me.