Artist’s Statement

Why I paint

I am drawn to painting because it allows me to access another realm not generated by the control seeking left brain, but feeds on ambiguity, intuition, the life of dreams and thrives in the realms of poetry and myth. I still follow the dictum of Paul Klee, who I studied in college and whose idea towards “sichtbar machen” or “make visible” is still a guiding light to me today, feeling as I do that, before we ever know them, these paintings are out there, invisible until we answer the call to bring them alive and make them visible. I feel very fortunate to have returned to painting, my first love, after a diversion into the world of corporate design.

Materials & Surfaces

I use both oil and acrylic paint in my work, sometimes even together! I also create monoprints on Chinese rice paper, which I then layer into my work, building up depth and interest. I love the way the rice paper allows the previous layer to show through, this then gives me direction for where to take the painting. I like to paint on wood for both oil and acrylic, which allows me the most amount of rigidity, as I often sand down the top layer, exposing layers of interest underneath, in this way the painting becomes, like a human being, a work of incremental experiences and layers, the most beauty coming through from that sense of history. I also use many other kinds of mark-making tools, from pencils to trowels, scalpel blades to steel wool, and employ a number of power tools when they are called for.