I look for the unexpected in my work, and make a deliberate effort to cultivate surprises. My ideas are driven by subconscious thoughts, spontaneous fantasies, and dreams. I have learned to say things and express ideas with glass that I cannot in voice or word, and so my work ends up educating me, as long as I am willing to pay attention. I love exploring the possibilities of surface design and decoration. Some of my recent work features layering of colors to achieve complex textures often combined with resist sandblasting to create images, a technique called "graal". Other new work emphasizes my interest in organic shapes and surfaces by sandblasting and sand carving forms to achieve a specific texture which I then highlight with color gradients done in oil paints. Both of these new directions have moved my  vessels further away from their utilitarian roots and toward a purely sculptural form. Like most artists working in glass, I am hopelessly enamored with the material, but lately have come to resent some of it's limitations. What if I don't want a piece to be shiny and smooth? I have attempted to deal with this dilemma by attacking surface, trying to find deep textures and primordial roughness, but what I have found instead is more of the beauty of glass. The resulting surfaces are translucent, glowing, and invitingly touchable. Another surprise.