I began painting approximately 15 years ago, after receiving an oil painting set as a gift. Although I had experimented with various forms of art since childhood, I had not found the medium that I felt passionate about until I began using oils. The brilliancy and depth of the colors, the smell of linseed oil and spirits, and the lush feel of the paint flowing from my brush captivated me. My favorite subjects to paint are the human head and figure (which seems particularly fitting to me, as I am a psychoanalyst by profession).

In my experience, being both a psychoanalyst and an artist, play off of each other and further accentuate each other. Painting helps me to be a better analyst, to understand the deeper layers of experience in both my patients and myself. I know that something in me changes as I proceed with a painting. The experience of painting is like oiling my internal gears; it loosens things up unconsciously. It helps to make me more flexible, more open to understanding people in a way that is more affective. With patients it helps me to identify what is creative in a person, so I can help them to express it and feel more authentic in the process.

On a personal level, painting serves as a form of relaxation and as a conduit between my unconscious and conscious mind. In this way my paintings inform me of states of mind, feelings and wishes that I may have been unaware of previously. Often I am surprised to see what has emerged in the painting, as my original idea may have been something quite different. Sometimes I start out with a clear idea of what to paint (e.g., a portrait or self-portrait), but I allow the painting to lead me in terms of color, mark making and composition. Other times I have no preconceived idea of what I will paint, and begin simply by painting a shape on the canvas or working off an earlier, unsatisfactory piece of art. The painting then develops as it will, for better or worse.