Left Row:
1. Artist Studio in Portland, OR
2. Braddock, 36x36" flashe on canvas
3. Floodplain, 24x24", flashe on canvas
Right Row:
1. Clearing, 24x36", flashe on canvas
2. Buried, 30x30", flash on canvas
3. Artist in her studio.
Man’s impact on the landscape continues to be the basis of my work as I capture the feeling of the environment loosely based on what is currently happening in the world. In my new series I focus on the handling of the paint. I start with loose, expressive layers that slowly build up to more control and purpose. My layers are getting more complex as I play with color, contrast, shapes, and texture. My process is meditative and peaceful. It offers me a solution to the things in the world around me that I can not change. Painting allows me to participate in the world with a feeling of peace and control.
I was born in Coraopolis, a small borough of Pittsburgh, PA. My favorite memories are of the long car rides to my grandparents’ house in the country. I loved staring out the window watching the landscape zoom by.
I would sit next to my Pap at the dining room table and draw. After high school I attended the Pennsylvania State University as a Landscape Architecture student. I spent two years learning how to create and interpret the environment before my desire for art led me to the Integrative Arts program. I was able to use my Landscape background as a foundation for a degree in Art. After graduation I moved to Phoenix, AZ and spent 3 ½ years exploring the southwest and gaining inspiration from the vast open desert. In 2005 my longing for rain, grass and trees led me to the Portland, OR. Here, I am an active member of the local art community and a participant in several charity events. Elements of the Pacific Northwest strongly appear in my paintings, yet they also reflect colors and memories from the place I have lived and traveled.