Artist's Statement

Contemplations of moments past and present find visual expression in my work. I enjoy my time outdoors and appreciate the natural world.  One of the best things about being an artist is the excuse to become fascinated with the details of nature, be it the effects of light through an ocean wave or the twists and turns of branch or how trees look in the early morning darkness. Contemporary to each of these details, of these mesmerizing moments, lie countless others and all human experience is made of these timeless instants. 

The medium – colored papers and newspaper – are essential.  It is a tactile expression of color, texture and pattern.  I am inspired by the simplicity of the shapes that I can create by ripping it.  Paper allows me to deliberate over the placement of the colors and the shapes of the colors that form the piece.  I’ve been collecting old papers and books for over a decade. What is most appealing about them is not just what was considered news worthy in that era but the creative style of the ads.  Handmade papers bring in the natural elements and appeal to my sense of beauty. The pressed flowers, foliage and seaweed I include in my collages are the news clippings of the natural world’s past. 

My process for developing a concept is as deliberate as the process for making it. It always starts with a mental snap shot of a landscape that gives me a feeling; a moment whose color and texture stir me to contemplation or reminiscence. As I begin to work, I will look through old newspapers to read the small stories of some random day of the past. As I read about the people and what was important to them, I see that those same things are what is important to us now, in this moment. The passionate, upsetting issues of my daily life are slowly illuminated by small articles and advertisements from the past. 
 
My work allows me to rationalize the frustrations of a very busy, complicated and stressful world by interweaving contemplation of nature with the everyday problems of people in the past.  I can vent my annoyance with consumerism, my frustration in romance, or pain at the loss of a loved one and know that I am not, and have not been alone in my feelings. By bringing vignettes of the past into my work, I’m making a statement on how little humans change. Despite the fact that moments pass and that there is always some advance that is newer and greater, trees are still tall, seasons still change, birds still migrate, and something is always on sale.