In early 2008, I started teaching myself to paint as a literal answer to prayer in relation to ongoing struggles with depression. Painting became a concrete tether to sanity, and now it has grown all sorts of connections with people all around the world that never would have happened- at least not in the same way- without the depression.
Beauty for ashes. What feels like the end is so very often another beginning.
At its core, whether playful or more serious, my art is an intimate, contemplative conversation about learning to live a life of love for God and people (including & perhaps especially those I’d rather not love) on this side of forever in quotidian and extraordinary ways.
In the studio I follow my creative inklings rather than a set schedule or plan, working from chaos layers and pareidolia, emotive mark making and intuitive response. This “what if?” approach often leads me in and out of several different mediums or combinations of mediums. This meandering way of working also creates quandaries from time to time, but problem solving is one of my very favorite elements of the creative process. I learn new ways of doing things and end up with work I’d never thought of making if I had a plan first.
Whether I’m working with wood, clay, fiber, mixed media paint, encaustic or metal, all of my explorations are fueled by my love of an expressive, folky, visceral, imperfect, naive aesthetic and the creative process itself.
