-
I learn best by being shown than told how, and my art is an extension of this, influenced by the experiences and people I've met more than by specific artists or movements. What matters most is how I follow through with my ideas, and how alive they keep me in the studio. Most importantly, I'm inspired by the abundant riches of the world around me, which offers an infinite source of beauty and detail from which to draw from. My work is in response to feeling this complex beauty.
I have always felt humbled by the raw beauty of nature. I grew up with a strong work ethic working close to the land and appreciating the silence of the Cascade Mountain foothills of Washington State. This has affected the vision for my paintings and my artistic process. I explore the many facets of my immediate environment(s) to express a spirit of a place that is not only in the landscape and its details but also in me. I find myself interested in the interconnecting details, patterning and self organizing systems in nature and the work of man around us, and want to share it through my work. Lines and line quality, branching systems, found organic ‘silver dollars’ collected from my walks, and tally-like oblong circular patterns that morph in and out of space are reoccurring themes in my work.
I seek to understand any subject from all angles and intervals in time to draw out the internal relationships and eternal associations. Most importantly, showing others what is right in front of them from my perspective of overlap and interconnections.Fine Arts, Painting, Visual Arts2011 -
Older mixed media works dating from 2002 - 2010 exploring texture, color, composition and application.
In 2004 I graduated from Whitman College, a liberal arts college, with a B.A. degree majoring in Art (studio). I have continued to practice and keep a studio. This body of work is inspired by the need to express the often ephemeral details of my surroundings as well as continue to push and grow my personal artistic voice.Fine Arts, Painting2012 -
In 2009 I began folding 1000 Origami Cranes. Apparently that wasn't a large enough task and when asked if I knew anyone who would like to paint a mural in downtown Walla Walla, I volunteered.
I didn't know at the time what the subject of my mural would be but after biting off more than I could chew with the responsibilities of work and other odd jobs - and now a mural! - I decided to keep it within context to my origami project and paint 1000 Origami Cranes.
I began the mural in early summer 2010 and finished just before the first snow fall in the first week of November 2010. I remember this because I was getting ready to go to my parents on Whidbey Island, to help with the winter lambing and I wanted to leave town with my mural accomplished.
During those final days I was graced with a very large crane circling high above me. I had never seen a crane circle before. I always see them flying in straight lines or standing still in the fields. So I thought maybe, just maybe, my wish was being granted. Because as ancient Japanese legends says, if a person folds 1000 cranes they will be granted one wish and a long and healthy life!Painting, Origami, Street Art2010 -
In my photo-montage series 'Convergences', the viewer can witness the sameness and difference connecting all around us.
I am drawn to photography because it asks me to go out and look again. Photography reminds me that there are always new discoveries to be made and a multitude of ways the world can be interpreted. A photograph can synthesize a new perspective in a way that our eyes cannot. In many ways, all photographic art is found art. Through photography I can draw awareness to the land by capturing the ambiguous details.
Walking is one of my artistic processes. I carry my camera every day to capture what I to see with greater accuracy. I want to share the new discoveries I make right under my feet.Photography2011 -
Sometimes I complete a painting in a day. Sometimes a month. And some paintings span over 7 years. I have tried over the years to keep documentation of my process and for some paintings I have succeeded in doing so.
Process is a huge part of my work and my love for what I do. Impermanence is something I understand and it is often hard for me to complete a work because I don't see anything as ever being complete. Our whole lives, the whole world is in constant process.Fine Arts, Painting, Visual Arts2011 -
I walk the streets of Walla Walla in search of cracks. They make beautiful patterns reminding me of the complex systems that make up life; veins, roots, rivers and water. Out of context they look like topographic photos taken from above.
I have always been intrigued by the beauty of lines.
Ancient quality.
Systems;
Branching, flowing, looping, breaking,
fractals.
System of rivers,
system of roots,
vascular systems,
veins.
Many different ways of seeing the same thing,
without being the same thing at all.
Life mirroring one another.
Fascinating.
Captivating.
Inspiring.
Living.Digital Photography, Visual Arts, Street Art2010