ARTIST'S STATEMENT
I believe we all have the urge to create, to express our true nature. The creative urge blooms in many ways, and for me, when I am enameling, anything and everything is possible; I am both connected with life and utterly free.
Many mediums and methods have paved the road to my current large-scale works. My mother was a talented painter and I was always drawn to her work, especially the materials she used. The colors and textures created by brush and palette knife, the smell of turpentine that connected the moments in time that I spent in her studio; as I watched her tap into a hidden reservoir of vision and energy I witnessed pure freedom flowing through her tools.
My formal education led me through the structured road of science, yet even there I gravitated towards aspects that connected me to the energy of life. Practicing physical therapy, working with individuals at a vulnerable time in their lives, was hands-on, elemental work. During times of great physical pain, emotions are raw and prone. Acting as a tool through which my patients faced their imperfections and built new strength, I was awed by the beauty of this vital life we all possess. Still, this connection was not enough, and I felt compelled to explore other roads.
I took my first steps into art and writing classes as an adult and as I pursued those avenues, I began to see that this was the path I was meant to explore. I’ve had the privilege of wonderful guides along the way. I’ve spent time with many mediums and modes of expression, learning in the end that I need to work large, I need fabulous color, and I need to feel my materials with my hands and body. These materials of the earth- copper, silica, glass- are the tools I use today.
I believe being connected with the energy of life has its strongest meaning when we share that connection with one another. I hope my work will trigger emotion and personal memory in the viewer —of a place, a feeling, perhaps a thought or idea—that will make he or she feel something powerful. It is how I have felt standing before Mark Rothko’s tangible presence in his works, and in this way, Abstract Expressionists including Jackson Pollock, Clyfford Still, and Franz Kline have had an indelible impact on the scale, color, and materials of my style.