These paintings are about findingmystery and fantasy within reality. I wanted to express this through uncommonand unexpected textures, shapes and shifts in light. I wanted to talk about howthe underwater world is a part of our world, yet many of its depths, shapes andlife seem very foreign and mysterious to us. The idea of fantasy rose sort ofunintentionally in the purple painting. The idea wasn’t there when I startedpainting it, but with the use of unusual color and landscape like scene itbecame fantastic and other worldly. I did intend for the ocean theme to beapparent, but not too representational. I also intended to allude to thedifferent forms of sea-life, without mimicking them exactly, but rather lettingthe paint create the shapes and forms loosely.