Artist Statement

Art is an adventure. Each painting is a new exploration of time, place and emotion. I begin without a plan, sketch, or intention. As my bare fingers and tools smear the paint, I allow the character and mood of a piece to develop organically until it reveals its unique place-moment in time and space. My subjects range from the serenity of a landscape … to the horror of a nightmare.

I typically begin with automatic painting, using my fingers and palms to manipulate the paint into textured layers containing swirls and patches of color as well as creating unique marks. I continue to add and remove paint using a variety of tools. I cover, obscure and re-cover the surface as I work through a dialogue with the piece, intuitively applying paint and glazes, veiling or scratching away, perhaps detailing with a touch of pencil or oil pastel. When the piece comes into focus and nears completion, I learn its true title.

I most often work in acrylic and prefer painting on plywood because I enjoy the feel of the woodgrain beneath my fingers. My favorite tools are my fingers and angled flat brushes. Recently, I have begun experimenting with brushes I make from natural and found materials.

Alone in the studio, I work in silence while I listen to each painting. My fingers push and pull at the very threads of story and timeless existence...until imagery, color and texture gradually develop into a narrative. As the subject reveals itself, I am able to settle into the mindspace for the piece and its specific focus becomes clear. Each image holds its own personality and context and inevitably reflects a feeling or situation I have witnessed or experienced -- perhaps empathically or in a dream or in my daily life. I do my best to tell the truth as it presents itself in that moment.

I am descended from a long line of herbalists and storytellers so perhaps it is not so surprising that many primordial (and sometimes surreal) connections flow naturally to me. I am just a conduit.