These works explore the quiet dignity and rich inner lives of rural animals and the landscapes they inhabit. From the wordless bond between me and my horse, to the knowing stillness of a fox in repose, to the fierce intelligence of an owl — each painting asks what it means to be a conscious being in the world.

I live and farm in rural Northern California, and these animals are my neighbors and companions. Their presence in my work is not decorative — it is philosophical. Each creature carries its own form of consciousness, its own way of meeting the world. The barn door reflects my interest in how familiar structures carry the weight of time, labor, and belonging.

For me, to paint an animal is to pay attention to a mind that is not mine — and to discover, in that attention, something essential about my own mind.