Social gatherings such as potlucks and art openings create opportunities for friends and strangers to engage in moments of intimate exchange and occasional improvised play. As an artist I cultivate participatory events in an effort to draw people together, experiment with the framework of interaction, and later extract intriguing scenes that I can represent through figurative paintings of distilled color, space, and line. In my effort to obtain compelling images of personal interactions, I organize partially scripted art parties during which I provide a playful theme for interaction and then film the outcome. A strict area of engagement is set by either a preexisting space or a temporary architectural structure that provides a context for what will later become the painting composition. From the video stills, I create installations of colorful, life-sized paintings that represent gatherings while framing a new space for interaction. Whether alone or with company, the viewer becomes a part of the painted space.