I backed into the art world with my arms full of quilting supplies. I began taking drawing classes hoping to improve my art quilts. Instead, I discovered an entirely new world of vibrant color in oil and pastel. Something deep within me cracked open and I knew I was home.
Growing up in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, I absorbed beauty without realizing it. The play of light; water in all its forms--still, reflective, rushing, lapping--can pull me out of myself. I'm also drawn to sunrise and sunset; watching the emerging or disappearing light and long shadows hiding a familiar landscape. When painting, I focus on the flickering beauty of a specific moment in time; to savor it, enhance it, live it. Hopefully, it becomes a window transporting the viewer into that place.
I work from life and also enjoy interpreting photographs, whether it's a landscape, portrait, or figure drawing. My favorite mediums--at the moment!--are oil and pastel. The endless marbling of color when working with oils is intoxicating; and oil paints lend themselves beautifully to the depth and movement of water. Pastels give such lovely nuances of color and line in faces and human form. I lose all sense of time when working with either. I know a painting is finished when it takes on a life of its own and becomes richer than what I imagined it could be.
I welcome commissions, whether from life or photographs, and see each new piece as a wonderful experience. Art is a journey and I am thrilled to be here! |
