In the Valley of My Own Shadow Painting

I was born in Los Angeles into a family of artists and at a very young age I saw my parents happy at work making art a way of life. The house was always buzzing with creativity. Many rooms in the house were devoted to the process of making art and the doors to those rooms were never closed. It was an environment ripe to inspire my young mind and fingertips. In my early studies I explored Art and Art History at Santa Monica Jr. College and in my last year I was awarded the mentorship scholarship to the San Francisco Art Institute. I used my time there to pursue my interest in sculpture, mixed media and installation art before coming back home to painting. While still in school, learning to paint in more traditional mediums, I was inspired by my fathers work in the medium of Reverse Acrylic Painting, I began to explore this technique in my own work. I loved it immediately for its ability to reflect light and translate color so vibrantly. In 2005, after 5 years of painting in this reverse medium, I went to Brazil for healing and inspiration. It was here that the seed was planted for what would lead to a deep and permanent shift in my approach to my Artwork. The beauty and the spirit of the people I met, the music and dance I experienced, the immersion into nature traveling into the Amazon at a spiritually transformative time in my life allowed for a powerful breakthrough. I came back home and began using a physically dynamic approach to reverse painting. I began to throw and pour paint onto the plexiglas. Splashing and pouring and coloring way further outside the lines than I had let myself before. I began to also explore how to create translucent wet layers onto the plexiglas surface. I began to move my wrist rhythmically while holding my brush like a drumstick and gently beating it onto the surface to create some of the background brushwork. This new approach showed me I could create a realm of palpable space and depth I hadn't been able to before on this plexiglas surface. I discovered I could access the energy in different parts of my body that wasn't being activated by sitting in a chair while painting. I look back at this moment in my creative journey as the moment I saw the LIGHT. In 2010 I started a practice of meditation that began a course of study which would eventually lead me to become a teacher and workshop leader.