My current body of oil paintings explores the environments existing on the periphery that most people ignore. Strong emotions can be prompted by a place. Over time, ways of life shape and define people and the spaces in which they live. I am drawn to areas and structures that show character acquired from the history and memory of the people that formed that environment. Living in one place for an extended period of time provided me with a sense of local perspective that no outsider possesses. The pervasive feeling of loyalty and local identity present in this region contributes to the specialness of my home in the Midwest. My relationship to this community and the process between people and places has been an important aspect of my art.