Creative Process

Q: What is your creative process?

A: People often imagine that an artist's process begins with making. Mine begins with listening.

Before I draw, I try to understand the world around me. I pay attention to the people I meet, the atmosphere of a room, the objects that have been left behind, and the small details that most of us learn to ignore. When I slow down enough to truly listen, I begin to notice potential.

Responding to that potential is the first act of my practice.

This is why cleaning has become such an important ritual. Cleaning makes a space beautiful, but I do it more to prepare for the most committed experience. It gives me awareness of the space, and I intentionally use the time to know what is in the space, and how everything exists together. The process is one of care and responsibility. I simply can’t sit down and draw in a dirty room, let alone one that I don’t understand.

Only after that preparation can I begin drawing.

I try to create an environment where nothing competes for my attention. My tools, my body, and the space around me should feel like they belong to the same rhythm. When everything is in harmony, I can stop thinking about the mechanics of drawing and instead become completely absorbed in seeing.

I also believe that making art is a form of exchange.

Every meaningful artwork is the result of generosity. Someone offers their time to look. Someone offers trust. Sometimes they offer conversation, support, or the willingness to live with a work for years. These exchanges matter just as much as the drawing itself. Art is a relationship built through mutual recognition of value.

Because of this, I don't think of my studio as a place where I produce images. I think of it as a place where I prepare myself to participate in the world more honestly.

When I finally begin drawing, there isn't a formula to follow. There is only commitment. I work until I've given everything I can that day. When I'm completely exhausted, I stop, and fall straight into my bed, where it feels like I only sleep for a single second before I wake up and do it all over again.

My process is cyclical. Every day starts the same way: by paying attention, caring for my surroundings, and learning to listen once more. The drawing is only one part of that cycle. The real practice is becoming someone capable of seeing.