found in translation #11 Painting

I love to scribble. It all started when I was a small child, coloring " outside the lines" with my mom.The waxy smell of a box of crayons brings back happy memories of sprawling out on the floor drawing . That feeling of freedom that I experienced then, is with me today when I start mark making and painting. My art expresses the interplay I have with my environment and daily interactions.Intuitive marks and gestures guide me through a process of layering, constructing, deconstructing and reconstructing. The work dictates when it is time to stop. Visceral, immediate, raw. Growing up in the suburbs of Washington,D.C., exposure to culture and history fostered a lifelong love of the arts. Having lived the majority of my life in Southern California. I developed a great appreciation for the dynamic landscape and bohemian spirit enveloping the beaches, mountains and deserts surrounding me. I find myself moved and touched by the differences in our society, the polarization generating our volatile political climate. My more recent work is reflective of my response to the times we are living in. As a mixed media artist, I have found a wonderful place to escape and share my concerns and compassion with my viewer. Being medium driven, I love getting my hands messy and delve into the paints , gels, and variety of mediums I am using ( even finger painting sometimes.) Often I incorporate found objects or items that have special meaning to me , or just speak to me for some reason. I recycle my own artwork, often tearing old paintings and drawings up and using the energy they once possessed, in a new, fresh way. Sometimes I will include things from my travels, nature, memorabilia, industrial cast offs, old paint brushes, used drop clothe\s and other found objects, in my art. Using this history to document my life's journey, reworking it into a new narrative. My mixed media art tells the tale of my conversation with the world around me.