"Wait, these are photographs?"
I get that a lot, and yes, they are!
Some people are startled when they realize my pieces aren't paintings, and though my goal isn't necessarily to fool anyone, I love that much of my work has a painterly quality, because that means I've been successful in taking an unremarkable object or surface, like a scrap of rusted metal or corroding section of pipe, and giving it an unexpected new and colorful life--and perhaps a bit of immortality.