I begin each commission by learning the lens through which the client filters the world. This allows me to merge my visual language with their life lens so that I can create work that resonate between us. It is important to not ask out right how a person perceives themselves, the answer will only lead me astray. Instead, I lead an interview tailored to each client, asking seemingly irrelevant questions and listening for gaps in my understanding of their nature. I know the interview is complete when I sense a piece of them accompanying my creative cognition. As I build their portrait, I allow the impression of their essence to move me. I prefer that clients refrain from requesting specific imagery, aside from reference photos of the key figure, so that I can forge the landscape and details from my understanding of their energy. Through this process, I often discover details about the client that they did not outright admit or even foresee as a desire in a painting.

I am invigorated by how much my clients revel in this process. I have the opportunity to understand their unique existence and they get to see their lens emerge through my creative style.