"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" Painting

I live in Cary, North Carolina, with my husband Larry and my dog Rogie, and enjoy painting daily in my sunny home studio. After a lifetime of teaching art at all levels, I retired twelve years ago to pursue my personal vision. Throughout my life I found myself drawn to the raw, emotional intensity of the German Expressionist movement, whose work also strongly influenced the South African artists of the early twentieth century. Many of those artists were refugees from war-torn Europe. Thick lush gestural paintstrokes, saturated colors and strongly personal visions, were signature qualities common to much of the work I saw as a child. Kokoschka, Klimt, Schiele, Soutine, Modersohn-Becker, and more became my inspiration through student years and beyond. Today I enjoy exploring acrylic paint and mixed media collage, incorporating asemic mark making and my love of words. I continue to attend workshops and classes to further my skills and knowledge. I am active in many local and regional arts organizations and show work in juried shows.