I am a painter of large, colorful abstract canvases. My multi-faceted career as an artist, educator, and photographer has spanned more than 30 years. Both of my parents were artists, my mother a potter and my father a sculptor. Having been surrounded by creativity and art in my daily life growing up, it came as no surprise when I chose to continue my life in the arts. After achieving my BFA and exhibiting many years as a fine art photographer using large format cameras, I became intrigued by the ability to visually communicate without the distraction of mechanical tools. While pursuing this painting passion, I attended RISD and the Boston Museum School as well as receiving private instruction from Victor Lara, Lenny Long and Katherine Porter, all pure abstractionists.

I paint large; the overall compositions start out being sketches from my emotional world then end up as metaphors for my experience as a human being. Hence, as I start by thinking about an experience so the painting itself becomes an experience. That is why I paint, for that additional experience, being both validating and enhancing to my life experience.

Within the paintings themselves, I become interested in creating my own sense of space and time, my own expression of space where colors, lines, patterns, and textures overlap and merge into unified compositions. I depend on my vibrant and energetic sensibility, hence my paintings burst with color, where every color combination, mark and pattern is deliberate. Although sometimes impulsive, I use the abstract expressionists’ process-driven approach to painting, utilizing the practice of listening to the unconscious.

I endeavor to plan as little as possible. Rather than have a fixed objective, I prefer to let compositions evolve of their own accord, acquiring their own presence and identity. I am relentless in using various media and experimentation to create the finished piece. My process of layering color, mediums and glazes, creates a feeling of depth. I enjoy vibrant color and believe it usually has a positive effect on viewers.

AIthough I have studied and admired the works of Emily Mason, Elaine De Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler and Lee Krasner (I call them ‘the wives’)…I try to maintain my own voice in my work, while creating an original style. I follow that as a goal, through every painting.