or is it purely just your aesthetic and way of drawing? Well, it's kind of funny. I have been told that my images are "sneaky" because until someone gets right up on them, they just assume it is a collage. I like that because it compels each person to get really close to each image, spend more time with it and appreciate it more. With so much art around and so many quick and easy digital ways to make an image, it's very important to me to be connected with the laborious, time-intensive practice of meticulous painting. It makes me examine every tiny detail of every cut out image I am working from and I feel a new appreciation for the individual beauty of each one. This relates to my ideas about our culture, as we are barraged by so many images and so much information every day that we are completely out of the habit of studying and focusing on a single thing for more than a second. It is helpful to my own psyche to take time to focus on the beauty in the minute details of life. One thing I love (which is weird, I suppose) is to come across a massive pile of ants, working on bringing a little piece of a Pop-Tart someone dropped back to their ant village. It takes me out of the endless thought stream of "to-do" lists and connects me with being a creature, coexisting with other creatures on this planet.