In 2011 I began my current project, “Little Things”, an on-going series of small-scale painted portraits of everyday objects. The objects are depicted in actual size in gouache on sheets of 8 ½” x11 “ birds-eye maple paper and displayed in a grid. Individual paintings of empty snack bags and squeezed tubes of toothpastes hang next to ripe avocadoes, blooming flowers or discarded stuffed animals. In these random groupings of intimately scaled paintings, I investigate how the little things that enhance our daily lives are inextricably intertwined with its detritus. The paintings examine and reveal the emotional and psychological resonance that simple, everyday things have, and how they help us to make connections between past and present experiences. Some of the objects have found there way into my hand-painted animations, a studio practice I explore as a way to broaden the narrative content of my work and to push the boundaries of traditional painting and drawing media.