Drawing and painting have been a part of my life since I was young. I enjoy studying and working with patterns, colors and shapes that I find in nature and geometry. Creating art gives me a calming satisfaction. In my artwork I try to convey the tranquility that I find in nature.
Nature is visually intriguing and is the main inspiration for my artwork. I start each artwork with an observational, realistic drawing. I love to take my paper and pencils outside and draw from nature, either in my own garden or while I am camping. I start by creating realistic drawings of birds, flowers, insects and landscapes, then use those images to create abstracted images of nature. In nature, plants are filled with visual patterns. Flowers show radial and bilateral symmetry. Sometimes the patterns are quite complex, other times simple and bold. Rhythm is apparent in the arrangement of leaves on a stem, and veins on the leaves. Taking shapes from the realistic drawings, I rearrange them and add geometric shapes to create new images.
My work has bright colors, I have always been attracted to intense color. Color can be brilliant in the natural world. We see high chroma colors in the sunrise and sunset, in the flowers of many plants, on the feathers of birds and the bodies of insects. We see warm colored flowers surrounded by cool colored leaves. A flower will show subtle variations of color and value when light plays on its surface. A sunset reflected in a lake is a luminous visual experience as light shimmers blindingly off the water. These views are some of the inspiration for color in my artwork.
I use colored pencils for work on paper and acrylic paint for work on canvas and panels. I usually have several works going at the same time and I switch back and forth between them.
My drawings and paintings bring enjoyment to me as I create them. Hopefully, my artwork stimulates curiosity and brings joy to the viewer.