The ability to create images in an academic manner is a skill that is valued by most artists and honored in many cultures throughout history. The direction of my personal work and style began to shift in 2016, it was a slow evolution from illustrative representation toward an impasto abstraction. The change was derived from my interest in Jungian psychology, dream analysis, mythology, philosophy, and Nature. As a young artist, I believed that rational empiricism held all the answers to the big questions and problems that face humanity . There was a belief that all my image creation needed to be narrative driven, culturally relevant, and communicative. Having worked in this mindset for the majority of my life, I found myself drawn to heavily textured work, like that of the Abstract Expressionist, Clyfford Still. As I explored and experimented more with this impasto approach to painting, there was a catharsis in not needing to paint an image in the traditional sense. Letting each mark, brushstroke, or texture be guided by the previous one, along with feelings that the aesthetic of each piece work in accord with my sensibilities. There is not necessarily an end goal in mind, rather it is a Beingness of flow and presence that guides my current and future personal work.