Spring to Life Painting

My love of art started at an early age from painting in oil and drawing. For many years I worked in oil painting landscapes before I discovered my love of mixed media abstracts in a workshop. My work is now process driven, mixed media paintings that are built as much as painted. I start with a loose layer of color in acrylic, add texture, add collage, draw into the work and then repeat that process over and over. I allow the layers to build and reveal images to me directing me where to go with the painting. The images are either abstract, figurative or floral but they are all created in exactly the same process. When a painting is complete it has somewhere between 25 to 40 layers of paint, and collage. As the surface builds I will take photos of the work, studying the value changes and also finding what story the canvas is trying to reveal. Once the image is starting to emerge it is my job to hone the many layers of texture, color, and pattern into one cohesive painting. I want my viewer to be pulled into the painting to see the depth and complexity but also to step back and enjoy the final image as well. For paintings like my geisha series, each piece has many layers of collage and drawing making the underlying image very intricate. I keep the over all figure confined to a more simplistic background allowing for the focus to rest on the beautiful kimono. I participate in various shows and art fairs in the area. My work is held in private and corporate collections.