about me

I am a mixed media painter and paper collage artist using acrylic paints, drawing instruments, inks, fluid paints, ephemera, fabric and needle and threads. I use a variety of substrates including large and small canvases, watercolor paper and recycled materials. My art style is abstracts, imagined florals, and graffiti style paintings. My creations are usually unplanned and experimental, gesturally expressive with maximalist details, not constrained by conventional principles. Words play a huge part in my final pieces and include poetry, lyrics from really good 70-80's music and my temporal thoughts. My paintings could convey a playful floral interpretation or sometimes be a visceral response to the materials and movements, in abstract form. I am influenced by stunning abstractions, intriguing color combinations, and favorite artists Mark Bradford, Basquiat, Yayoi Kusama and Matt Sesow.

 

'Nothing is precious' is my approach with any creation. This allows me to be daring, try new processes and paint over layers I thought were perfect yet unfinished. As I create, I'm discovering who I am. This is reflected in the chaotic backgrounds I make and then shapes or flowers partially painted over the backgrounds. The hidden layers of my paintings carry as much meaning as the seen. You can see glimpses of where the painting started and I'm always surprised by the underneath that remains. Kind of like a life. We're all made up of so many philosophies, values and experiences, but parts of us will always remain hidden. We choose how we show the world the rest of what makes us, us.

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On a personal note: I'm married to a wonderful cook (and I like to eat!), mom to 2 grown children, 3 dogs, 3 cats and 7 semi-egg producing chickens. They're lucky I don't like eggs that much, unless they're in brownies.