Over the years, my work has evolved dramatically. In my earliest years as an artist, I felt drawn to the somber and beautiful imagery that one could derive from artists like Brian Froud, Mark Ryden, Dave McKean, and Tim Burton. That charcoal-tinted view permeated my work as a photographer and as a mixed-media painter, and my works ranged from collage photography to seductively dark illustrated paintings. I have only a couple of collage photographs toward the bottom for reference to that style.
My personal life has gone through a rebirth, and my artistic life has come along with it. In September, it will be five years since I moved to Florida to escape Michigan winters. My work has changed as I’ve found levity in my outlook--I used to suffer winter depression annually, causing me to retreat both from my social life and my creative life. In my new work, I am exploring color and freedom of movement, and I feel that this is directly linked to my ability to move more freely in my life in a number of ways.
My new work is as experimental as my ability to explore my new home. I no longer constrain myself to tight, calculated imagery that is purely based on form. My imagery has lately emerged from the process, without planning the product ahead of time. I am not as worried at this time about working out visual problems as I am interested in exploring a new medium; I am working in acrylic, found objects, and epoxy glazes right now. As completed products, I find my latest works interesting to view (although they’re more interesting in person), but moreover, they have been SO much fun to create. I can’t wait to see where the process takes me over the next year, and I’m excited to be interested in the discovery rather than concerned with the product.
My personal life has gone through a rebirth, and my artistic life has come along with it. In September, it will be five years since I moved to Florida to escape Michigan winters. My work has changed as I’ve found levity in my outlook--I used to suffer winter depression annually, causing me to retreat both from my social life and my creative life. In my new work, I am exploring color and freedom of movement, and I feel that this is directly linked to my ability to move more freely in my life in a number of ways.
My new work is as experimental as my ability to explore my new home. I no longer constrain myself to tight, calculated imagery that is purely based on form. My imagery has lately emerged from the process, without planning the product ahead of time. I am not as worried at this time about working out visual problems as I am interested in exploring a new medium; I am working in acrylic, found objects, and epoxy glazes right now. As completed products, I find my latest works interesting to view (although they’re more interesting in person), but moreover, they have been SO much fun to create. I can’t wait to see where the process takes me over the next year, and I’m excited to be interested in the discovery rather than concerned with the product.
Experimental Pour/Glaze #1 (2016)-with the pour/glaze work, I am finding the strengths and limitations of the materials. For this piece, I washed into semi-cured glaze on one layer, and on another layer, washed with acrylic mixed with soap. This created interesting textures in red and green.
Pour/Glaze #2 (2016) In this experimentation piece, I used watered-down metallic paint that broke as it dried. I also dropped paint into wet glaze. It wrinkled and buckled as the glaze cured; I didn't like the effect. The drops were originally dark blue, and I went over them with an opalescent white to make them seem more interesting.
Experimental Glaze and collage work (2016): for this process piece, I experimented with embedding objects into wet glaze, acrylic overlay techniques, texture paint techniques, and building up the image through glaze layers. This image was not planned ahead of time; instead, I let the image reveal itself to me as I built layers.
Spirit Woman (2016) Acrylic & Glazes- I did not plan for this figure to emerge when I began this work. I started with a general sketch of what I thought was a male figure, and the box shape came along later. As the figure developed into a woman, I realized that the box shape needed to contain an inner, feminine, solitary world. The image of the pear evokes for me a range of ideas: it is womb-shaped, and placed near the region one would find a uterus on the form in the painting. It appears to be leaning against what could be a ribcage alongside the box, but these ideas were not at the forefront of my mind as I painted them. I find them interesting because they may be self-revelatory, as I am a woman who has struggled with fertility issues in the past and am planning a family in the near future. The swirls over the head remind me of daydreaming while moving through the world. Finally, I would like to note that this "faceless woman" has shown up in several of my paintings over the years, so there must be a reason I keep painting her.
Spirit Woman (2016) Detail
Spirit Woman (2016) Detail
Warrior Spirit (2014) Marblex and Acrylic
Tree Spirit (2015) Ceramic, Iron Oxide (High Fire)
Dream Lady (2010) Hand-Bleached & Toned Collage Print
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Spirit Woman (2016) Detail
Fire Spirit (2014) Marblex, Acrylic
Dream Spirit (2015) Ceramic, Wax
Quantum Soup, (2014) Acrylic on Birch
After the Fire (2010) Solarized Collage Print, mixed media
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