Artist Statement

I always search for peace in my art. Nature is my constant inspiration, from the tiniest mosses and lichens to a beautiful landscape to the largest, most distant nebula in space. I use abstraction to varying degrees, playing with loose impressions, extreme closeups, and the fog of memory to represent the feel of a place or object.

Paintings

My oil paintings tend to be abstract, with minimal use of traditional brushwork. I use many mark-making tools, from my fingers to wedges and rags.

Encaustic paint is made up of pigment, resin, and wax. To paint with it, you melt the wax to about 160°F, then use a brush to paint with it before it hardens. The melted wax has a wonderful texture to work with, and I love the structural and textural paintings I can do by building up layers. Thin layers of translucent wax allow for depth of color and texture you cannot get with any other medium. I also work in hundreds of layers of wax built up into accretions—sculptural paintings formed like stalagmites, one thin layer of wax at a time.

Textile Arts

My textile pieces include punch-needle rugs, embroidery, and weavings. My embroidery is based on my sketches done in nature, then abstracted or stylized. I create the backgrounds in a modern interpretation of a crazy quilt style—layers of fabric scraps placed on a plain cotton background and sewn down by hand. I leave the edges raw and visible, so sometimes they fray. I enjoy the imperfections inherent in this technique; it forces me to release perfectionism and accept the imperfectness of my stitches.