About
Materials and Techniques
My work is about the natural landscape. I primarily work from photographs as a reference, and I simplify images in order to enhance the interplay of the colors. I typically start by spray painting the background. I then add texture using fine line applicators to apply the paint. The fine line applicators allow me to have control over the paint, and create a rhythmic quality to the way the paint is applied. My recent works have integrated heavy body acrylic to create the illusion of depth. Adding the acrylic to the objects in the foreground creates more space- something I have always been creating in my work. I like the pieces to have a feeling of walking into the forest, or the space and the texture helps me to achieve this. The interplay of color relationships is an interesting dynamic that I explore frequently, mostly intuitively. I am mostly a landscape painter, painting the forest and the layers of trees and foliage. The work is all about the immersive experience, giving the viewer the feeling of what it’s like to be in the forest - with all the shadows and colors. My goal is communicate the same healing energy in my paintings that you experience in the forest. Giving the viewer a place to rest, exist, and feel peace is my goal in my works.
Theme
The series I have been working on since 2020 is the “Path in the Woods” series. Until recently I didn’t realize what this series was about. I just knew that I was drawn to painting paths, with the golden hour light. I now understand this series with a deeper meaning. For 18 years I worked as a teacher, but during covid everything changed. I am a single parent, and my son was a baby when covid happened, coincidently spending a lot of time away from work.. I spent a lot of time in the woods. Every moment when I was not remote teaching we were outside in the woods of Columbia MD where we lived at the time. During this time I started to realize that teaching was out of alignment for me, and I wanted to be an artist- a full time artist. I kept painting paths, and the forest, and finally in 2022 I left teaching after 18 years in the system. It was a difficult transition from a 9-5 to being self employed, but I have stayed on the path and have had clear intentions on where I want my life to go. And now, we continue on the path. So the paths in the artwork have literally represented me following my path and letting go of the status quo, letting go of the societal norms of working a job and retiring- waiting to live your life after retirement. I chose a different path, and these works represent this journey as a human, and also as an artist.
