Punta Mita Pool II Painting

I came to America with my parents as an Estonian refugee. The experience of losing our home has had a deep impact on me. My art is a search for a home, physical and spiritual. I want to hold on to the beauty of places and people in my life. I paint the view of my field in Vermont over and over. There's a power in repetition. I feel like I am possessing my field. It's liberating and meditative at the same time. Life is ever more miraculous to me. I create my own idealized reality and permanence that I want to experience. You can have the ideal thing in art. I'm inspired by Edward Hopper, Fairfield Porter, Alex Katz, Charles Burchfield & J.M.W.Turner whose works evoke the fleeting nature of everything one loves. I don't take anything for granted. When I paint, I feel free. I have a conversation with the art I've loved. As to process, I paint intuitively and don't limit myself. Style conveys meaning and the handling of paint tells its own story. I love tactile marks that create energy and sensuality. I also make many paintings with classical layering of colors and slow building of light, forms and mass. I work alla prima when I need a flat, minimalist calm. My emotions determine how I handle paint. There's nothing else like the pleasure I get from art. I want to give my work that same energy - a spirit that separates art from artifact. That uplifting feeling is what I want the viewer to experience. Change is often the enemy of the ideal but I'm open to it without compromising my personal vision to the winds of fashion. Artists who give themselves freedom inspire me. Gerhard Richter is an enduring role model whose art seems alive because he gives free reign to his feelings, memories & skills. I'm grateful to be making art at this moment. It's a great period for artists.