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     All these years, when asked what inspires my art, I've tried to settle on "something" -a special moment that informed my attitude toward art, a phenomenal teacher, love of nature and animals - and always realized there IS no such moment/person/love.  No such singular example, that is.  What I neglected to consider is it's ALL those things - my art isn't a compartment of myself; it's pretty much me, and I'm pretty much it.

     My confusion about that came from the work itself - my artwork doesn't resemble anything, doesn't represent anything in particular, nothing visible at a glance (although people have seen images in it, imagery I've not consciously put there.)  One series, of abstracted trees, was inspired by an evening passing by a little park, in which I worked to recreate, on paper, the three dimensional feeling of being under those trees.  But when that was accomplished, the series ended, that impetus retired.  When I look at my Urban Landscapes series I find my love for cities blending with my love of forests - but those thoughts were far from my consciousness when creating the work!

     I also realize I confused inspiration with influence.  So many artists appeal to me; I could spend hours and hours daily immersed in art books, and looking online at art by artists never mentioned in art history classes, nor found in museums, artists who created wonderful work now at auction from collections enjoyed for years by owners in private homes.  After studying so long, it would be impossible for me not to have been influenced by other artists - although I can't name specific influence for particular pieces.

      So I've concluded everything in my life is my inspiration.  Since my father was an artist by profession, the way life unfolded from my very beginnings must be a primary influence.  I do remember the end of freshman year in college, time to declare one's major, I was interested in so many subjects I had to decide by the question:  if all I could have in the world was one thing, what would it be?  Not too difficult:  art.

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