Artists Statement

What a wonderful world we live in.  I draw inspiration from my traveling across America, to our National Parks and protected spaces.  I take photographs of people, flora and fauna.   I show the beauty around us invoking memories of places we have been but have forgotten.

   

I work in oil, watercolor, acrylic, pastel and pen and ink.  I use the pallet knife and other tools to create an emotional expressive mark.  I consider my work to be traditional in content yet expressive in style.   I received training in my pallet knife work from the great Texas artist, Jose Vives-Atsara.  His ability to create beautiful paintings in an hour has always influenced my desire to be a pallet knife painter.  I have studied the works of the artists from the Hudson River School of Art, like Frederick Church, Thomas Cole and Albert Bierstadt, who were instrumental in recording the beauty of the Northwestern United States. Contemporary artist, Jennifer Bartlett whose works are a close view of parts of landscape, and Josephine Halvorson whose works are parts and pieces of everyday items inform my work as well.

 

My paintings come from my heart, with a driving desire to help others see the beauty in the everyday surroundings we live in, and to create a feeling of calm and peacefulness that is sometimes hard to find these days.  I am currently working on a more contemporary style of painting, opening myself up to a more expressive style of art.  Whether traditional or contemporary, the images I share are my best efforts to embody the beauty of our world.

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