"Merlot" Painting

I create vibrant, textured works that explore color, material, and emotion through painting, weaving, collage, and sculpture. Rooted in intuition and play, my practice embraces the transformative potential of everyday materials and the unexpected beauty of imperfection. Working across an eclectic mix of materials—including recycled paper, paint, resin, textiles, and everyday objects—I construct layered compositions that pulse with color and energy, building meditative spaces where structure and spontaneity intertwine.

Guided by an instinctive relationship to color, I approach each piece stroke by stroke, weaving bold hues into a sensory language that connects memory, emotion, and presence. My palettes are shaped not by formula but by feeling—sometimes tied to seasons, moments of joy, or visceral memories of growing up between the Mediterranean and Southern California. In my hands, color becomes both a map and a mood, carrying the emotional charge of lived experience.

Initially working in hyperrealism and graphic design, I later broke open my practice, embracing abstraction as a form of liberation during a period of profound personal change. Painting became a way to lean into uncertainty—an improvisational dance between intention and acceptance, where "mistakes" are embraced as vital parts of creation. Whether layering recycled paper and textiles into textured underpaintings, constructing woven abstractions, or sculpting playful resin forms, I invite a dynamic tension between control and release.

At its core, my work offers an invitation: to feel the immediacy of what’s in front of you. My pieces reflect a deep joy in making, a celebration of material possibility, and an openness to the emotional worlds that emerge when we allow color, texture, and intuition to guide the way.