I’ve lived for extended periods of time in Italy, England and Japan, and recently moved to Asheville, North Carolina from coastal Maine. Each of these unique cultures has influenced and contributed to my artistic growth and vision. Above all, I’m a colorist and a choreographer of nuances, weaving together gestural brushwork and thick paint, sometimes adding a touch of whimsy to the mix. My paintings grow from meditations, memories and accidents. They are interpretations and imaginings, springing from what-ifs. This process allows me to dance between observation and invention, to develop color harmonies, to expand my original experience, and to embroider upon it.
Background
My university training was as a non-objective abstract artist. After graduation, I felt the need to incorporate representational elements in my work. I was living in Naples, Italy, and my years there allowed me repeated access to some of the greatest museums in the world. This served as my own self-guided MFA program, and is a period for which I am extremely grateful. I moved into the watercolor medium at that time, when my children were small, and I continued to work in it exclusively for the next 10 years. This was followed by a 10 year period of working exclusively in pastels, which I fell in love with while living in England. However, my basic nature is to feel more expressive with a brush in my hand and, ultimately, my path brought me to oils, which opened a pandora’s box of technical tricks, surprises and fun in the studio.
Working Process
It all starts with color for me. Color is like seasoning to food - it’s the flavor that makes the dish enticing. So, first off, I decide ‘what I’m hungry for’ and I grab random tubes of paint that seem to fit that flavor/color profile. They are never the same tubes of paint from painting to painting, or even from day to day within the same painting construction. The subject gradually evolves from color shifts, lines, smudges and random marks, often with the paint itself serving as the source of my inspiration. Moving from thin, transparent washes, reminiscent of my watercolor days, to opaque strokes of thick impasto paint, reminiscent of my work in pastels, I build my surface, throwing lots of scraping, layering and gestural brushwork at the canvas. I intend my paintings to work on many visual levels, and the variety of my paint handling is of equal importance with the light and the subjects I present. They all work together weaving a tapestry of color with elements of recognition and surprise.