I had a vision of my life as a child that one day I would grow up to be a painter living on a tropical island somewhere. Although I did not end up living on my childhood daydream island I do live near pristine white sand beaches and emerald colored waters of the Gulf of Mexico. I am self taught, full time professional artist and 25 yrs ago I left the Midwest region and relocated to the Florida panhandle. I currently live and work on 2 acres near the beach with a couple of rescue dogs and a parrot. When I'm not painting I'm gardening and developing my plot into a pollinator refuge. My studio and gallery is located in Defuniak Springs Florida where I welcome visitors by appointment.
ABOUT THE WORK:
The inspiration for my paintings come from what I experience in daily life. Snippets of conversations, sights and sounds, or thoughts and feelings are examples of things that fuel my need to create.
My process is essentially a dialog between my medium and materials and my emotions. I start by building up layers of translucent washes then moving on with more textural brushstrokes to create focal points and bring balance to the composition. Once I have the first few layers down the process leaves the thinking zone and enters into the intuitive zone. I work the next stage with fast moving gestural mark making, trying not to overthink the process. After this point I set the painting aside to dry and give myself time to evaluate it objectively with a fresh eye. I often work within a themed format because it provides a known and cohesive starting point allowing me to get into the zone with less thinking.