Spring Sunrise with Haiku Poem "Ode to a Seaturtle"

Sumi Ink and Watercolor

13.5" x 17.5"

I discovered art as a personal vocation when I returned to college mid-life and took a course in Composition and Painting.  I fell in love with the flow of paint, the colors, and design choices.  What was intended as a break from the rigors of academics, instead became a calling, and the beginning of an exciting journey of creativity.

 

Painting helps me experience the world around me more deeply, to see and feel the beauty of nature.  I often think about the inter-connectedness of all things and the journey we share with all of life.  I am fascinated with observing the natural way animals interact with their environment.  These interests have led to tow distinct bodies of work:  The Natural World, and the symbolic, human, Journey of Life.

 

My nature paintings are often based in watercolor, as I feel that medium expresses the fluidity of the ever-changing landscape, and the mingling of elements.  I have been influences by the Eastern tradition of capturing the essence of a subject, and will often incorporate sumi-ink drawings with my watercolor paintings.  My Journey paintings are done in transparent acrylic layers and/or mixed media, as well as watercolor.  They are abstract, usually colorful, and use symbols and the figure to represent our many choices, twists and turns, of our individual and collective paths.

 

Seeing through an artist's eye enables me to explore below the surface; painting provides a visual voice.