Artist's Statement
Painting is for me a journey of skill, insight and a sharing of myself. Doing a painting is taking a risk, hoping to find a solution and the creation of something unique and meaningful.
The media I have chosen to work with are mixed water media, watercolor, acrylic or a combination. In addition, I often incorporate collage/found objects, and mediums to create texture and interest. I like to do layered painting with designs and images of previous layers coming thru in some way or form. I believe that all of the paintings I start will eventually be completed, some in a shorter or more direct line, others taking longer, and that is OK.
My technique or process of doing paintings is to work on a number of paintings at the same time learning as I go, getting ideas from one painting and transfering those ideas to another . If I am stuck as to how to proceed with a painting I leave it and go on to another. At times I have had up to 12 paintings in process. If all else fails I sit down, get out some articles, art books, a sketchpad, change the music or just sit and quietly think. I have found that this discipline of doing something, how ever large or small, works. I attend to the business of doing art daily and I accept that creativity can show up in a variety of ways and forms or may on occasion need a respite.
When I am successful and feel a sense of things working together it is a joy beyond belief. I am then in the space of creating something new, different and perhaps never attempted before. I am taking risks, feeling free and ideas are boundless.
I strive for art that has meaning to me. I paint first for myself. I look for what I like and without concern for whether others will like it. If that happens it is truly wonderful but that is not a criterion for my personal sense of accomplishment.
Current Exhibits
- Twisted Fish Gallery, Eld Rapids, MI
The Art of Framing and Gallery, Traverse City, MI
- Bella Galleria - Old Mission Tavern on Old Mission Peninsula in Traverse City
Memberships
- The Art Center Traverse City,
- The Crooked Tree Art Center, Petoskey, MI
- Elizabeth Lane Oliver Center for the Arts, Frankfort, MI