I'm a 45-year-old artist, living in Seattle's U-District.

When people ask me what kind of art I do I say, "I paint pretty pictures of ugly things." I use classical realist techniques to paint pictures of discarded, overlooked, unloved places and objects.

Since I'm always seeking out things to paint, I carry a camera with me at all times. But I'll photograph anything that catches my eye, even if I have no intention of painting it. I'm kind of a hoarder, that way. So rather than leave those pics to languish on my hard drive I figure I might as well post some of them here.

I've started taking pictures of graffiti and graffiti art. It's not my medium, and to be totally honest I don't always understand what I'm looking at, but I'm impressed by the sheer confidence, energy and spontaneity behind it. I'm also intrigued at how ephemeral it is. As a painter, I work in a very planned, deliberate way to create work that possibly last for centuries, and graffiti art seems to be the antithesis of that--which is probably why it fascinates me.

Oh, and cat pics. There will always be cat pics.