It begins with an idea… and a lot of experimentation.
I am a contemporary abstract artist. I work primarily in acrylic but collage and drawing often make their way into my pieces. I am inspired by landscape and landforms, by maps and the history and implied memories they hold. On first view, my paintings can be read as referencing elements of the world around us - places, real or imagined. Closer inspection often reveals collaged layers of maps, street listings, tree images, line work evoking the forms of rivers or meanderings of highways and dense areas or scribbles representing the congestion of cities you find along their length. Text and handwriting, and occasional sketches of faces, locate people in the layers of these abstracted spaces.
My paintings are made up of many layers and the process of making a painting is one of reacting to each previous layer to nudge the work towards a final composition. I discover a painting as I go along; I don’t start with a mental image of a finished piece but instead I pursue a pleasing arrangement of line, shape, color, and space that I hope resonates with others.
Painting brings me joy. It is a rewarding way to connect with myself and with others. It allows me to play, to experiment, and to use my intuition in great measure. The creative process is a lovely dance between abstract expression and thoughtful editing to bring each piece to life.