I have developed a watercolour technique using gesso as a ground that adds another unpredictable element to the freely flowing wet-on-wet process. The gesso resists the penetration of the paint down into the paper. It increases the feeling of the impermanence of the medium and the subject of the painting. It creates an ephemeral pictorial space.

This quality helps me with responses when working en plein air in a landscape setting. It also helps me to deal with suggestions of memory when I’m not sure where the image making process is taking me. And it helps me to work through textures of meaning and allegory when my starting point has a conceptual approach.