My artmaking as a process and as a body of work transcends categorization. I create based on where inspiration leads me.

Oil paint is my primary medium. The paint itself is an essential part of the paintings I make, both for my experience in the moment of creation and for what oil paint can do. With oil paint, I can lay down thick paint with a knife for instant texture, or I can slowly build up layers over time. I can apply paint with brushes, knives, my (gloved) hands, or I can draw with oil sticks and oil crayons. I can push paint around for days before it dries. I can remove dried paint, revealing layers between. I’ve tried other painting mediums. Oil paint is fundamental to my process.

I love to paint landscapes outdoors and to paint flowers from life - to have an intimate relationship with nature. It is a spiritual experience, to study nature so closely. Magical things happen when you stand alone and silent in the middle of nature – you witness things you might otherwise not notice. My paintings are documents of these experiences.

Inspiration also prompts me to explore color relationships and movement in non-objective painting, making many-layered paintings of rich depth that explore the process of releasing oneself from past and future influences over which one has no control.

Ceramics is my secondary medium. My hand-built ceramics echo the flowing and curvaceous forms found in nature. I work with intention: I shape the clay against my hands and with a paintbrush to develop organic sculptures. I also stay flexible as each piece evolves, intuitively responding to the way the clay seems to want to “be.” I choose my glazing to play with the visual difference between the inside and the outside of a form.

I have started experimenting with printmaking, specifically monoprinting. This is a dangerous medium for me because it is all-consuming – hours pass in the blink of an eye. I look up and it is dark outside. I get immersed in the investigational nature of “what would happen if I…” and the way pulling one print leads to ideas for the next print.

My inner journey as the sufferer of a chronic illness has influenced me to expand to other mediums. In processing my diagnosis and the challenges of navigating care for a rare genetic condition, I am creating a series that includes printmaking, fiber art, sculpture, photography, and multi-media works.

Being open to all of these inspirations allows me the privilege of regularly experiencing “that wonderful state which makes art inevitable.”