Rebuilding, Re-viewing. 
I started painting in oil paint when I was 12 years old. I taught myself how to paint and often copied images from art books. One of my most frequent subjects was the self-portrait. I could get lost in the strange shapes and unfamiliar forms in the reflection of my own face in the mirror, totally losing any awareness that I was painting myself. Not only is self-portraiture an opportunity for me to ask myself "who IS this person?", but it is also a return to the comfort of the familiar and not at all familiar "self." After years of change and challenge I am rebuilding and re-viewing from this foundation.