These paintings started out as kind of a mastering of sorts. Whether it was of the medium or trying to document a picture as best as possible, I was only painting answers. The paintings were good, but could be absorbed without much questioning or discovery. I have found that I would much rather paint questions instead of answers. I am now painting instead of just using paint to create a representation of something found in a photograph. I am still interested in realism, but more so in the site at which realism meets abstraction. The clouds are a reference now, often times a starting point, from which I can pull. I enjoy the abstraction, as well as the difference, and still take pleasure in the challenge of painting clouds. It is now more a focus and an experiment on how I see the brushstrokes before me and the choices I make based on those marks. There is more play and things at play. These paintings are about the making and examination of a painting. They are not about being careful with my actions, but instead about being thoughtful with my reactions and about how to experience something new.