The Nerve is part of a series that I've worked on for a number of months. It is very colorful painting that has a very aquatic feel to it.

The background history with this piece would have to start with the location that I created it in. It was created in a storage unit. You know, those places that you go store you're stuff in.

I began painting there when I couldn't safely paint in the place I was living. (I'm a messy painter) The storage unit was an interesting place to work because there was some what of a danger element involved there. Often I would hop over the fence and sneak in there at night. Totally not supposed to be there! I would turn all the lights on and shut the large garage door behind me. I'd plug into some Bob Dylan and look at the painting for a while.

One of the things that happened with this painting was the level of excitement that went into it. I was so pleased with this work throughout the process. Actually, there is a drawing underneath the painting and those that have read about my work in the past know that I write a lot of stuff onto the gesso before I apply the paint to the work. This time there is a drawing underneath. I had applied my media to the surface of the canvas and had sanded down the surface very smooth.

The canvas was at home and I didn't have my paints there. I decided to draw on to the surface and really explore combining pencil and oil paint. I've always hated drawing onto a canvas and then not begin able to get rid of the pencil lines. I decided that I should be able to use that curse as an advantage. My drawings aren't that far away from my paintings anyway. I began the drawing and loved it. I loved it so much that I couldn't bring myself to put paint onto the surface and it went into storage for about a year and a half. Unpacking from the move I set this work aside and thought I'd get back to it. I'm glad I did. I sold this painting at the beginning of 1999.