My paintings and prints express my place in the world, through animals, landscape, and the inner life. I live in the high desert of Oregon and look to this seemingly simple yet truly complex landscape for the foundation of my work. My paintings are about animals, open space, fragments of discarded stuff, memory, love, the natural world, entrances and exits, and joy.
Animals are my primary focus and have the ability to deeply affect me. My life experience has gifted me with three years of caring for wolves in a rescue center for abandoned exotic pets. The memory of these animals has powered the creative force in my art work to provide a glimpse of their strength and dignity, and declare their absolute necessity to our planet. Fortunately, wolves are regaining their place alongside bears and coyotes
My work is also concerned with the four natural elements — fire, earth, water, and air – and how they interact in the landscape with animals. Geometric shapes, such as triangles, contrast with natural shapes to symbolize human presence. To me, geometric shapes symbolize the human mind that is in juxtaposition to organic forms in nature. Rectangles symbolize portals to the unknown
Photographic images are often incorporated into my landscapes, constructing a contrast with the heavily painted image. Not content to realistically depict a landscape or animal, I want to push the image beyond the familiar into something altered. This way I’m able to challenge myself and push into a creative place that will take me, and hopefully the viewer, to a new experience
Just as important, the physical act of creating art drives me – I love the feel and look of paint and ink as they are smeared, brushed and built up across a surface. Creating art connects me with the intangible aspects of life.