I work in the tradition of oil paint on stretched canvas in a standard of 18” x 24” format. I transpose images culled from online repositories and printed media into the formal setting of painting. Often times a Google image search will turn up unexpected results, or I will find by chance a photograph through skimming the pages of used books. I happen upon these images fortuitously in their vast circulation. The act of painting and the sacred dimensions of the canvas exalt the images I collect, saving them from becoming lost in the proliferation of other visual ephemera. I afford these images a more substantive existence by providing them with roles to play. Between two dueling violinists sits a basset hound whose plaintive expression beseeches the viewer to intercede. A physical therapy session goes awry in the middle of a deep-tissue message as the scene descends into a tumult of exercise paraphernalia and glistening pectorals. The narrative has imploded and I work with only a semblance of order that frees the image from a contrived purpose. My relationship to painting images is predicated on essential questions: How can painting animate the image instead of turning it into a commodity? Do images lose their value as they become more abundant and easily shared? Lastly, how can images give painting primacy as visual medium in competition with other formats?