Ray's statement

Keep it simple. Although I enjoy the complexity of many artworks, I've learned in the past few years that my personal style is to avoid "overdoing it". When I can finally look at a piece and be happy with it, I stop myself before I begin adding unnecessary features that detract from the work. What I've found is that the simpler a work is, the more ways an observer can interpret it because there is less to narrow down their perception of it. Sure, I've made complex pieces before that have taken weeks, pulling all nighters to get them finished, but I've never been as satisfied with those pieces as I have been with a painting that took me no more than a few hours. It consisted of a hippo floating on a cloud over a plain blue sky. When I completed that painting, I realized what direction my art was heading, and I didn't have a choice.