I am often asked how I create these paintings. The process is one that I invented and that continues to evolve. I have countless ideas for things to try and it is a constant internal battle between the urge to experiment and the need to complete work.

I begin with the photography. I work almost exclusively from my own photos. (I say "almost" because I have used a couple of photos that my husband took.) I use a Sony digital camera and take dozens of pictures before getting one that is right for a painting. When doing self portraits it sometimes takes 20 or 30 pictures to get the perfect shot. I then create my sketch using Adobe Photoshop on a MacIntosh G4 Dual. No, I don't use a filter.

After I get the sketch just right, I choose the paper and start painting. The papers that I use mostly come from Thailand and most are handmade. The painting process is slow and tedious. Painting with oil on paper means that once the brush touches the paper, the paint cannot be removed. Also, I spend a lot of time backing up and checking the work from different viewing distances.

Once the painting dries, I mount it, either to a painted canvas or wood box. I build the boxes myself -- all art is improved by power tools, in my opinion. The mounting process requires that I soak the entire painting in water to assure that the adhesive completely penetrates and that there is no bubbling. This means that it is extremely fragile at this stage. I intentionally tear the edges as I mount the piece.

When the adhesive is completely dry, I add any additional elements to the piece. That includes any words that are painted on or, on rare occasions, found objects or hardware that are added. The papers that I use are archival quality though they will fade in sunlight if not protected. Therefore, I coat the entire piece with a UV protective varnish. Finally, when the varnish is dry I coat selected pieces with beeswax. I do this by hand, melting the wax with a heat gun.

The poetry on my paintings was all written by my daughter, Emily. She wrote "A Decade of Heaven" in 2001 at age 11 and the sonnet, "Constant of Xenophobia" in 2003 at age 13.

We live in a world of paradox. I don’t mean the abstract, philosophical/theological kind that we all debated in Freshman philosophy class. I mean the in-your-face, say-one-thing-and-do-the-opposite, kind of paradox. The tax-the-poor-to-feed-the-rich kind of paradox. The teenagers-shouldn’t-wear-condoms-because-teenagers-shouldn’t-have-sex kind of paradox. The Britney-Spears-is-a-virgin-role-model-with-natural-breasts kind of paradox. The see-the-movie-of-the-crucifixion-then-drive-home-in-your-SUV-and-curse-at-the-homeless-guy-who-tries-to-wash-your-windshield-for-a-quarter kind of paradox.

As a woman and, more importantly, a mother living in this environment I feel compelled to speak. I want to give my children a strong moral basis, so that they can make responsible, healthy decision in their lives. But when I start to look for role models, they are sorely lacking. This is true in many areas of life, but nowhere is it more problematic than on the subjects of sex and self-image. Bookstores have entire sections dedicated to the suffering self-esteem of teenage girls while the media projects images of under-fed, surgically enhanced, half-naked girls moving erotically through our psyche with the message “If you find this arousing, then you are a pervert. Now please buy our product.”

How can we expect our sons to respect women when they are constantly being portrayed as mere sex objects? How can our daughters respect themselves?

In the meantime, the body-image gap between boys and girls seems to be closing. Unfortunately it is closing in the wrong direction as medical professionals are beginning to see anorexia in 8- to 12-year-old boys trying to live up to the unrealistic body types of professional wrestlers and Abercrombie and Fitch models. Instead of empowering our young women, we have handicapped our young men.

On the other side, schools tell our kids that they must not have sex until they are married. Remember your sex drive at 15? Where I live, teachers are forbidden to discuss masturbation. So I guess they expect these kids to completely ignore their sex organs until their honeymoon? I want my kids to have happy, healthy lives – I think that should include a healthy sex life. That would require having a healthy attitude about (not to mention intimate knowledge of) their own bodies and their desires.

This is the purpose of my art. I create images of figures that I hope will challenge the viewer. I believe that most people are naturally drawn to look more closely at a nude, an urge that may result in feelings of shame or embarrassment. What then, do you do with a nude that when viewed close-up becomes indistinct, when more detail can be discerned from farther away? Some may experience a heightened feeling of embarrassment for following their instincts to look closer. Others may have a sense of cunning for having the ability to examine the figure without having to openly demonstrate interest by moving nearer. Either way, I hope that the observer will be forced to examine how they view nudity, sexuality, women, and men. This is especially important as our society moves toward a new age of censorship.

I find it fascinating to explore how much detail can be depicted with the fewest strokes, how a soft shadow may be achieved painting only hard lines, how the brain will fill in the most minute details that do not even exist in the work. In these terms, my work continues to be interesting and challenging to create and I continue to grow and learn as an artist.