Okeanos Painting

As early as I can remember, “Artist” was the word I used when someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I vividly remember being a first grader and showing up to my elementary school career day as an artist. I donned a palette from the local art store that my mother helped cover with colorful blobs of paint. I also wore a homemade apron smeared with acrylics, a French beret, and took my first steps to what would later be the driving passion within my life. I spent my college years studying Studio Art, with an emphasis in painting, at Loyola University New Orleans. There, I was classically trained. Loyola was where I first found my artistic voice; abstract painting. My early influences were mid-century abstract artists such as Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollok. As I learned of their artistic philosophies, I came to realize that I could better express my deep emotion and sophisticated thoughts through simplified shapes, vivid color, texture, and bold brush strokes (rather than painting a realistic replication of a subject). Currently, I am practicing my works in my home studio located in Alexandria, Virginia. My artistic philosophy, best quoted by Ghandi, is that “All true art must help the soul realize its inner self”. I keep this in mind as I create each piece. My goal is that each viewer will personally connect with the art, may it be nostalgia for a past time in his or her own life, or merely happiness.