ARTIST STATEMENT
Even as the so-called “creator” of my paintings, I’m often baffled by the visuals & connective tissues that find their way to the canvas. As I work, these vivid ecosystems of whimsical forms, architectural lines, and dueling perspectives come into being – like inhabitants from outer realms, tunneling in to be seen & pondered for their curious nature.
Painting is my training in patience and perseverance. My process feels like a microcosm of getting through life – soldiering on (with imperfect grace) through the setbacks, elations, and myriad distractions of daily existence.
There are countless moments when the canvas is an unharmonious mess, nothing cooperates, and I welcome the sight of the nearest trash can. But you carry on. You sketch, erase, re-sketch, paint, take time out, rethink the whole damn thing, rest, and repeat the cycle. You keep on keepin' on til you're facing something that feels familiar to your soul.
As a woman in mid-life, I’m realizing how necessary it is to embark on and share the work of one’s heart. It feels like a sacrilege not to. Once you’ve mined the depths & battled your crafty mental goblins (doubt, fear, insecurity) to create a pure expression of self; it seems an honorable duty to pay it forward.
When I say “Hey folks, check out my weird paintings,” the hope is that one reluctant artist will dust off their paintbrushes, clay stacks, or sketchbook and get to work.
WHAT LED ME HERE
Like most middle-class American kids in the 1980s, I was given a Whitman’s Sampler art education. I sucked at ceramics and showed marginally more promise as a painter. Alas, I majored in painting for a semester in college until – like a shameless dilettante – I cheated on visual arts with words. I graduated with a degree in writing from TISCH, NYU.
Soon after, I had the great honor of assisting Hamish Bowles at Vogue Magazine. I'll fast forward through my fashion years, mostly spent carting around unwieldy trunks of clothing & tying models shoelaces. But I was also fortunate to work on set with photographers like Mario Testino, Paolo Roversi, Craig McDean, & Inez & Vinoodh – which gave me the opportunity to study composition and human forms from the sidelines.
I received my MA in Film Theory from University College London and stayed on in the big smoke for eight years. In 2010, I was beckoned home by my beloved Northern California.
I’ve worked as a professional copywriter for two decades and been a hobby artist for twice that time. In early 2022, I quit my job to devote a year to painting.
I live & work in the Oakland, CA home I share with my husband Rob and our cat Little Meow (who looks like Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra, minus the 65 outfit changes).