The paintings in this gallery are almost all done from memory, and a few are based on loose sketches. I generally don't have a preconceived idea of how my oil paintings will turn out, and as a result I find the process far more interesting and adventurous. Of course there are failures, with lots of wasted paint, but there is a great satisfaction of arriving at a point where you are happy with what's on the canvas without planning every step of the way. As a general rule, when I think a painting is almost finished, its time to stop. I also enjoy the tension between thickly applied paint on a two dimensional surface which then creates the illusion of three dimensions.