I grew up in the small riverfront town of Decatur, Alabama, with my mother and three sisters; we never had much money, but somehow were always surrounded with amazing ideas and beautiful works of art we made from bits and pieces of everyday life. I came from a long line of resourceful and creative women. My great grandmother was a seamstress and a widowed working mother during the great depression; she could take any plant cutting or seed and turn it into a beautiful garden, she played the piano by ear and designed vibrant colored quilts made with scraps of fabrics from dressmaking.

My granny kept me as a young child and I have many memories of sitting at her table with pencils and crayons, drawing on the backside of any piece of paper or label that I could find. Influenced by granny’s sewing, my mother taught my sisters and me to make clothing and costumes to help pay for our dance lessons. Through dance I learned I could express my emotion through an art form. I also took delight and inspiration from nature, as being outdoors was our outlet and playplace. Many days were spent sitting in trees, making art from natural objects, listening to the night music of crickets. My background lends to a connection to nature and sustainability in art and in life. I learned to be creative and inventive, and make things from what we had, repurposing objects and materials. The ability to create something from nothing gives me a sense of empowerment and plants a seed of inspiration in me.

Acrylic is my favored color medium because of its immediacy and speed, and I incorporate treasures, paper and words buried in the paint, as a record of my day. When working on a piece, the original lines, colors and ideas are often completely reworked showing the fragility and point in time of a painting. A favorite quote from Heraclitus illustrates my philosophy on art and life…”No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man.” This idea is reflected in my art as I believe each completed painting is a snapshot of my emotions, sensibility and place in time, and is the equivalent of a diary page.

I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting/Drawing from Auburn University where I grew to appreciate a love for the weight and gravity of a simple line, and an intuitive application of color. Several artists and movements are influential on my work including the abstract expressionist and modernist movements, the intuitive coloration of Helen Frankenthaler, the organic forms of Georgia O’Keefe, the exploration of perspectives and shapes of Paul Cezanne and the linear aspects of Asian art.

Some recurring themes or concepts in my work are the environment (both internal and external), sustainability, natural objects, light and line, and concepts of façade vs reality. My process typically begins with a linear design from a sketched or photographed subject. Once the layout is framed, I depart from a realistic interpretation to an emotional and intuitive color application. The lines are akin to the leaded lines in stained glass where colors are patchworked through linear forms.