Magic”, That’s what I felt when I splashed watercolors onto a crisp white sheet of cotton rag and watched them flow, mingle, blend and settle into patterns on the page. They were taking on a life of their own and were pure excitement to me; I knew I’d found the medium that stirred alive the magic in me. I still paint in oils as well, but now they are influenced by my affair with watercolor!
Statement
Are you curious to know who I am? Have you ever tasted the Rose` sunset over the Gulf Coast, or felt the chill of excitement as the sea fog creeps like fingers over the Northwest Highlands of Scotland? I’m excited to paint the sense of world around me, and I strive to express those experiences and feeling in vivid color. My creations are for the collector that “reads the stories I paint” and feels that the experience was meant just for them. My pieces have been claimed by collectors right off the easel internationally as well as here in the U.S. I blur the boundaries between photo realism and impressionism. I’ve followed a long passion for expressing myself creatively in the mediums of oils, concrete, tile, but I primarily prefer watercolor.
You may have heard the phrase, “seeing like and artist”. I believe that art grounds us and exalts us; my artist mind makes me look to see things we otherwise wouldn’t see in a subject. The act of painting requires evaluating a subject and determining what the story is, and how I will express another world under the surface of the ordinary. This makes me appreciate and make deep connections to the experiences around me whether it’s places I’ve grown to know here as long-time resident of North Florida or in travels, or people I’ve met in my previous 30-year career in public education, or family situations as we raised two boys, now grown. Hey, four granddaughters keep me on my toes!