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.
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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.
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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.
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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).