Cloquelicots en Bleu Painting

I am a native San Diegan, but spent the first part of my adult life traveling throughout Europe and the Middle East. After attending La Sorbonne, I returned to San Diego. It was there where my life took a distinguishing turn. I was diagnosed with MS at the age of 29. Upon the realization that my life was never to be the same, I began my journey as a professional artist. The process of creating art has been one of my strongest healers. I started out as a watercolorist and gradually was drawn towards working in oil. The first part of my career as a professional artist was focused on the shapes and colors in the natural world around me, and the subject matter reflecting my personal struggle with MS. I chose to paint leaves and fruit in a sensual way but always with the marks of time and damage. It was the uniqueness of the blemishes in which I saw the beauty. I transitioned to figurative work and incorporated both my botanical as well as the random marks of lines and splatters representing the patterns and marks left behind on each of us from our own life events. As I moved towards abstraction, I continued with the theme of random lines, patterns, and layers of color, always with the emphasis on depicting the perfectly imperfect. ARTIST STATEMENT - TEXTURAL ABSTRACT WORK (Current Work) I have chosen with this series to only give the pieces numbers in lieu of titles. The arbitrary nature of the work evokes different reactions from each viewer. All the marks and splatters are arbitrary, perfectly imperfect. This work is created using pure paint with no medium utilizing a number of unconventional utensils like squeegees and spatulas, this allows for the accidents to happen organically and adds to the depth and dimension of the work. I feel that this abstract work is some of the most honest depictions of the symbolism that has been ever-present in all of my work. Each painting creates an image reflecting the tapestry created by the experience of life. Each layer of color is an event, a moment, a happening whether tragedy or joy. My textural abstract work comes from an accumulation of years of exploring texture and color relationships. Each piece is comprised of layers of oil paint, using no medium, and left to dry prior to the application of the next layer. These paintings are reflective of the many layers we all possess within the totality of being human. Each event, each tragedy, each joy leaves a mark or a layer if you will.