She's a Beauty: Summer Days

circle / framed in steel, 36" x 36" - "I start each piece on location. As a photographer for 40+ years, I look for that perfect moment when motion, gesture, and focus come together. Back in my studio in Arizona, using techniques similar to Rauschenberg and Warhol (but always with my own imagery), I get to work. The power and allure of the silhouette—of reducing the moment to its essential parts—is the way I see the world. I work in acrylic on panel, layering up, and sanding back. At times I'll use Western magazines from the 50s and 60s for the background layer of a painting—a reminder that in the West, the past is always present. Even when it’s hidden, I know it’s there."