Michael Hudock, Always a Phoenix, Never a Bride, acrylic, charcoal, graphite on panel, 24x24

Whether I am painting or photographing or working digitally I am constantly drawn to surface. I am moved by objects, parts of objects, buildings, walls with history, and surfaces that have been affected by the elements over time. In the studio I brush and trowel paint, and over days or weeks these applications of paint slowly develop texture and depth. Colors peek through from underneath; top layers become scratched away to reveal paint that was applied months before. New layers cover up what was done earlier. Scratches in one layer never completely disappear even when they are painted over and so remain as a quiet and subtle mark, hinted at but barely visible.