"Night in Day" was my breakthrough painting. I guess you could say that this was the first piece that helped me get in touch with who I'm becoming. At the time I created it, I was overwhelmed with freelance work. I was tired of being a workaholic and not living my life. I was finally able to do a painting for a small Society of Illustrators art show in San Francisco and this was it. Someone suggested that it was me emerging from darkness into light. I hadn't thought of it that way, but it made sense.

Another way to look at it is that maybe it was my new way of looking at things. After I did this painting, every piece I painted from that point on was different. I had a whole new look, a new goal, a new vision and a new reason for what I was doing. What was so cool about the painting was that I saw it completely in my head before I even did it. That was the first time that ever happened to me.