Sometimes I’ll start out with an idea – about the interconnectedness of nature, say, or the way landscapes are so often used as promotion in the exploitation or settling of wild lands.  But then the tools take over, the paint starts moving and honestly I’m not thinking at all. Painting for me is a feeling, an experience, a devotional practice that exists way beyond words.

I paint landscapes mostly, pictures of mountains and valleys, rocks and trees and big drippy skies. I use a lot of color – I’m inspired by African textiles and Hockney landscapes and Huichol yarn paintings and Colorform toy sets. All of which is a big surprise to me – I never meant to be a colorful landscape painter.

There’s something magic about seeing artwork in the place where it’s created – it’s like...