ARTIST STATEMENT

My paintings are memories of places that have moved me. The paintings are of places, the light, color, movement, the thoughts and feelings at a specific time. They become the harmonies and rhythms of colors and forms. The paintings have the energy of life with the joys and sorrors encompassed in them. My work is abstract because I want it to be universal and to show more than the physical world.

Color is the keystone of my work. I am interested in what makes colors work, how they move in and out, how they interact with other colors, and especially what makes them sing and convey feelings. I paint in layers, starting with a thin coat of pigment. Building layer upon layer of medium with pigment, I work until the colors make a harmonious whole that has depth and the colors glow. The acts of painting and moving over the canvas are important. The movement conveys spontaneity, clarity, and intensity.

Space and its relationship to color are other aspects of my paintings. I look at the way color and shape come together, overlap, and stay apart. The work explores losing edges while maintaining the separateness of shapes and colors. Where colors and shapes come together, there is tension. The search is for the right interplay of tension to make each painting sing.