There is the art world and there is the world of art. I belong to the latter, holding an MFA, in it for the long haul, challenging norms, methods and materials in order to produce authentic work. As Chuck Close said “inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just show up and get to work”. Although my initial work was rooted in mimesis with portrait paintings, collage has allowed me to move into the art of construction. Fragments of the Financial Times Newspaper have become layered pieces of information on different surfaces. Oil paintings, drawings and watercolors have been shredded and transformed into abstract compositions. Monochromatic panels are to be discovered, not understood, elevating the emotive quality of the work beyond the story itself.