My process and inspiration

I have been creating art for over two decades, in a wide variety of mediums: pottery, photography, mixed media collage, fused glass, and my true love -- acrylic painting.

When my focus was ceramics, I was a member of various artist co-ops in Richmond and Charlottesville, Virginia, and showed my work yearly at juried art shows, such as "Arts In The Park" in downtown Richmond and "Arts Around The Lake" at The University of Richmond. When making my ceramic pieces, I discovered it was the glazing process that intrigued me the most and I developed a unique technique of painting layers and layers of glaze, using resists to form intricate patterns.​

Layering continues to inspire my art today. My acrylic paintings often have 7 to 10 layers of mark making using acrylic paints and inks before I have any specific focus for what the piece will be, letting the subject present itself to me from the depths of the layers.

​I paint with a wide variety of tools in addition to traditional brushes, experimenting with anything I can dip into paint to make a unique mark:  buttons, Lego's, doilies, wooden skewers, screws, combs, credit cards, sliced limes, mesh, toilet paper rolls, potatoes, pine cones, seed pods, rollers, sticks -- you name it.  The possibilities are endless.

Because of the depth of these random layers, my pieces are all unique and cannot be replicated, even by me. This method of intuitive painting keeps my work fresh, and allows a joyfulness in the process to seep into my work. The comment I hear most often about my paintings is "...Your art makes me smile!"  Wherever you hang them, you'll feel the joy!