Statement
I paint nature. Being present to natures healing influence is the guiding principle of my life and work. For me, the natural world is a healing sanctuary for our cultures relentless pressure to sacrifice feeling, balance, wisdom, and contemplation for speed, efficiency, busyness, and distraction. I want people to slow down, wake up, and pay attention to the richness and beauty that abounds within and around us. My hope is to convey a sense of peace, stillness, and equanimity in my paintings. Each painting is a leap into the unknown, a fresh start. There is no road map or set formula. Each environment presents its own demands, challenges, and conditions and calls for unique responses. The process unfolds organically like a spontaneous dance between two partners- now leading, now following- feeling for what is needed, and getting out of the way. I paint on location and in the studio. The quality of light influences everything. The interdependent nature of the particulars of a scene is what expresses its unique qualities, which I hold in my minds eye allowing flexibility for the painting to take on a life of its own. This atmospheric light suffuses and permeates the scene conveying feeling, emotion, mood, and mystery.
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I love pastel for the amazing and unique qualities of luminosity that can be achieved by applying multiple layers of pigment (consisting of very fine crystals) onto lightly sanded paper. It allows me to express my vision in a primal and direct manner like the ancient cave painters of Lascux, transmitting the human spirit through touch using charcoal and pure pigments from the earth in an unbroken lineage from their time to ours.