Painting is how I appreciate my world. It is the fulfillment of a promise I made when I was seven years old following the death of my mother. I wrote it on a piece of paper and left it high in a tree where I knew she would find it. I promised her that whatever I decided to do in life I would not misuse my days here on earth. I would discover the gifts within myself and honor them with joy. She has been gone 32 years. My paintings are the gift of her absence in my life.