A quote from Monet helps to define my passion for art, "I love you because you are you, and because you taught me how to understand light. Thus you increase me. I regret I cannot give it back to you. Paint, paint ever and ever till the canvas wears out. My eyes need your color and my heart is happy about you". As an artist, my work represents the love I have for life: it is more than the ideal: more than just a pretty picture: my work is me. Artist tools and language are about more than just beauty, I use those tools to appreciate art and to satisfy my need to understand reality. The quest to reveal gesture, measure, perspective, color, and light have become something my eye searches for tirelessly- with hope of that moment when everything becomes clear and my eyes truly begin to see. I continue to develop deeper personal meaning for my experience and what it means to be me. Although, I can spend hours investigating anything, I have a magnetic attraction to the figure. I am known to sneak into studio classes in which I'm not enrolled just for the extra hours with the model. Its worth the puzzled glances from my instructors as they usher me out of class because I simply can't make myself stay away. Most of my peers laugh at my school obsession, but I am happy to be worn thin by something that I feel has always been a part of me. Through the study of reality and fine tuning my skills of investigation, I hope to receive the greatest gift life has to offer: understanding. Apart from my love for studio classes, I also have great reverence for art history. I am inspired by many great artists such as Rembrandt, Monet, Durer and Vincent van Gogh. Their art captures an emotion through light and color, that truly inspires me. I desperately search for the same life in my observations as the masters and intend to grow and command my skills with perseverance and ultimately fully develop my potential. Thank you