Artist Statement

Artist Statement

When I venture outside for a walk in the woods, I reach out and touch as much as I am able. I am a very tactile individual and love discovering different textures. Whether it is the furrowed surface of a tree’s bark; the soft, smooth, velvet of a flower petal; the craggy roughness of a rock face, or the prickly edges of long grasses, I want to get a closer look. I enjoy the connection to nature that I feel when I encounter these different textures. I try to convey this connection and love of texture in my artwork.

My work has become a self-feeding loop. When I discover an interesting texture, I want to attempt to recreate it. This urge encourages me to explore more and in turn I become more aware of even more new and interesting textures. I get tremendous enjoyment from sharing this experience with people who look at my work. My search for new textures has also opened a world of creating art that has the potential to look like anything. For a long time, I was of the mindset that art had to look like something but restricting myself to this way of thinking, left me unfulfilled. I discovered that I was missing something vital to me. I needed to push myself to do things that made me uncomfortable, such as slapping a big glob of texture paste onto a canvas and pushing it all over the surface. Once I gave myself permission to do these things, to “color outside the lines,” I began to have so much fun!

Now I get to combine acrylic paints, inks, gel prints, paper, fabric, and texture mediums on canvas covered panels. I tend to be process oriented and revel in experimenting with the media and techniques to imitate the natural characteristics that I find. I place drops of ink on the surface and then spray them with water, just to see what happens. As I continue my artistic journey, I will look for more inspiration in the surrounding world and push my own boundaries to create new artworks.