I started adding collage to my paintings and drawings about four or five years ago. I originally added collage because i needed another element in my work and one where i could make a sharp and focused line or shape. I began by just adding cut shapes from colored paper which evolved into printing out photos from books from Morocco and the Middle East. Then I began to take photos of my own from trips to Istanbul and Jordon that I enlarged and printed out. I then cut them and added them to the drawings on paper and paintings on wood. Not only does it add another element to the work, I can take my camera out into the world and work outside my studio. I work on many things at the same time in the studio, and find that pieces of drawings migrate to the paintings and back again.