I can divide the art work I do into two categories: art with intention and art without intention. No matter what the content or subject matter might be, the results are noticeably different. When I draw or paint without intention, I have no particular subject in mind. I relax and let my pen travel where it feels good. I don’t think much about what media I will use or what particular colors, or how to prepare the surface on which I apply the pen or paint. Sometimes, the work is complete before I can even see what it is.

With intention, I start off with some idea of what I want – a crow or a magnolia bloom. There’s a sense of what colors will work best, and I take some time to think about composition, how to balance the different shapes on the page.

Without intention, unconsciously a crow or magnolia bloom might show up. But the results of the two processes not the same, so different some might think different artists were at work. The conscious works are created with greater deliberation. The shapes of the subjects are more prominent. There are strengths and there are apparent mistakes where I did not get the form or perspective or did not achieve the whole somehow.

With the unconscious art, the product is characterized more by energy than form. There are no mistakes because there was no intention. The product shows a kind of vigor where the lines do not need to be perfect, and the shading is not necessarily contained within the lines. With a minimum of lines, or with a haystack of lines, there is something energetically whole that is expressed.

With intention, the results seem to be captured and more familiar, and perhaps more pleasing to the eye, but less alive. My most satisfying works have been those where something unexpected has surfaced: a banana tree, a whale bursting from the water, a huge clam, a stranger's inquisitive face.