If you look around with the right eyes you can see the surge of nature: the ebb and flow of its forces and dynamics. There seems to be no word for it in the English language, but you can think of it as the Life Force, and it's everywhere, not just in things we think of as living. One sees it in the graceful power of a hungry tiger - its muscles rippling, and eyes charged with intensity; or feels it deep within, when a lover moves close.

But it can also be seen in the ancient and almost eternal rock formations of California's North Coast, or the fleeting, sculpted forms of the waves crashing against them, each demonstrating an underlying "current," whether it moves slower than a human lifetime, or faster than the blink of an eye. And it is profoundly beautiful, even mystical.

But to observe it is not enough. To paint these "living" forces of nature is to take up a dance with it, to become explorer, and adventurer, into the Life Force. The artist shares in the creation, absorbing and distilling it, becoming part of the stream. And ultimately passing it along to the viewer. It could seem as mundane as flowing cloth draped over a human form, or as dramatic as a jaguar watching from the shadows of the forest night.