I paint with acrylics, ink, collage, and colored pencil. Acrylic mediums provide rich texture and layered surfaces that invite you to lean in for a closer look. I often use a jigsaw to cut wood shapes to extend paintings beyond the frame. 

I use a Rapidograph pen for black and white paintings. They show the same level of detail on heavy cold press watercolor paper. I often include tiny figures, plants, and animals in the details to draw the viewer in for a closer look.

My work is layered with watchful dogs, birds, and whimsical figures. My images reflect the many levels of dreams, imagination, and waking life that we inhabit in a day. In this way, I hope to capture a moment in time. 

I have made art since taking a drawing class as a college freshman and my degree specialized in sculpture. Raising three sons while working as a public school teacher and librarian led me to painting.

 

The process of making art is like meditation for me. Thomas Merton says, “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” I can lose myself in my studio and feel restored when making art. 

The artist Keith Haring inspired me with his lively graphic images. His dogs were guardians in an era that feared the nuclear age. My dogs are watchdogs reminding me to enjoy the present moment, rather than worry about the past or future. remind me that life is short.  Walt Whitman sums it up: “Happiness is not another place but this place... not another hour but this hour.” 

We share the world with birds. Birds have been part of the landscape anywhere I have lived; in urban and rural New York, Texas, Los Angeles, Oregon, and Washington. My birds are not dark symbols or omens, but tricksters in the style of Native American storytellers. The expression “canary in the coal mine” shows birds are indicators of a healthy environment.

In dark movie theaters, when the advertisements and trailers end, and before the movie begins, you are instructed to “Enjoy the show”.  I hope you follow this advice in life and art.