The creative process is unique to every individual. Artworks are highlights in an artist's unending procession of conditions, of questions and answers, problems and solutions, unique experiences; the flow of a lifetime.

If something seems impossible that means it just takes longer to accomplish.

Artist Statement

For me, every creative process begins with presence. In a state of quiet, undistracted attention, ideas emerge organically. Rather than pursuing predetermined concepts, I allow impressions and intuition to guide each piece. This results in a fluid and continuous practice where one work often begins in thought before the previous is complete.

My painting process is an intuitive response to problems that arise; real, imagined, or discovered; within the evolving image. Using aqua-media paints and stained papers, I build semi-transparent and opaque layers of bold, vibrant color. These layers are often wiped, scraped, or sanded back, revealing earlier marks and textures. The method evokes natural and geological processes, archaeology, urban renewal, and psychological excavation. Tools may include brushes, knives, trowels, rollers, sprayers, blotters, sanding blocks, and tape. The resulting images are abstract, yet narrative and situational; investigating interactions between humanity and nature through iconic symbols.

In my sculptural work, I combine found natural and industrial materials with both pre- and post-industrial components. Through deliberate composition and vivid color, these works establish a material dialogue between nature and nurture, instinct and intervention. Sculptural forms explore the dynamic of light and shadow while expressing tensions between interior and exterior, inclusion and exclusion, transparency and opacity, obstruction and access, permanence and impermanence. Shifts in physical scale speak to the viewers’ imagination and vulnerability. the activity of gathering natural materials, the sticks and stones, is a reverential, meditative sauntering.

My work does not evolve from a singular, specific theme. Instead, it is shaped by an enduring sense of interconnectedness; of place, of attentiveness, of response. It is influenced by the rhythms and contrasts I witness in and between natural and cultural systems.

To engage with these works is, perhaps, to encounter not only my personal experience, but to step into the shared space between artist, viewer, and the wider world.

Education

BS Ed Art, University of Wisconsin, Madison WI, 1978

MA Fine Art, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 1981

Madison Art Center, aka Madison MOCA, Madison, Wisconsin, Technical Services Supervisor (Chief Preparator), 1982 - 1986

California Museum of Science and Industry, aka California Science Museum, los Angeles, California, Exhibit Specialist (Assistant Exhibit Manager), 1986 - 1988

California State Parks, Sierra District, Tahoma, California, Museum Curator 1988 - 1995; Interpretive Specialist 1995 - 2016

Medium - acrylic

Style - drawings, abstract monoprints, paintings and sculpture

Works in various private collections and the curated Ray-O-Vac corporate collection.