Primarily figurative, my work tells a story. I draw from my experiences, memories, current and historical events, shared universal feminine experiences, travel, and literature/poetry to make social, political or moral comment. Whether humorous, ironic, personal, or universal, my goal is to create more than just an image or object. Instead I hope to invoke a reaction–a thought, memory, shared experience, or emotion–positive or negative. I apply this same approach to my portrait work–reaching for an interpreted (and not photo-realistic) portrayal of each subject.

Lawn Chair Series

This series originated while I was looking at old family photos. I have a large extended family (an understatement) and there was never enough seating. To this day, I’m not sure how we all fit at my Grandma’s house for Christmas. But those were the best times–family, every form of Jell-o & side dish available, and always a laugh (or something memorable). Webbed lawn chairs were constant witnesses to our family gatherings, as I suspect they were to most other families in the 1970’s & 1980’s. Thus, the lawn chair series, each a witness to its occupant and a real or maybe not-so-real memory, event, character of my childhood. Narrative, yes; personal, yes; a bit kitschy, yes; but fun and I fall in love with each one as they evolve, weird traits and all — just like family!

Invasive Species Series

I started creating this series of small mixed media pieces during the 2024 election cycle. Fatigue set in and I started creating abstracted landscapes and collaged in cactus pads cut from a book of old campaign buttons, which represent the intrusion into my life of all things politics (something that continues today, and while its important to stay informed and involved, it can still be exhausting and hard to “turn off” when seeking to escape everyday life for a few moments).

Portraits

I’ve been working on a series of portraits using a variety of techniques: painting, mixed media and gel-plate monoprints (this process involves painting the image backward & in reverse on a gelatin plate and pulling the image once completed. To see the process in action, check this out on my YouTube channel.)