Growing up in rural coastal Marin County nature has always been an important part of my life. With the National Seashore, State Parks, and endless wildlife areas at my back door just waiting to be explored it is no surprise that themes of nature are ever present in my work. From the curve of a petal, the texture of a decaying tree, the play of light and shadow on spring blooms, to the vivid colors from a fall leaf. These are the magical details of our world that captivate and delight me. Having spent my early career as a graphic designer it is no surprise that these small details are what often draws me to my subject. Meticulous attention to details was a mainstay in my everyday working life and a skill that I continue to employ when creating my pastel paintings.

While I thoroughly enjoy being literal when painting, the artists and artworks that fascinate me the most are the ones that are gestural, free, and more abstract. One such artist I discovered during my time as a volunteer docent at the San Jose Museum of Art was Raimonds Straprans. Staprans is a San Francisco artist whose large-scale paintings hover between abstract expressionism and figurative. It was his bold use of color, simple compositions, and free brushstrokes that really grabbed my attention. And, at first, they also irritated me! When looking closely you could see that he had laid down a piece of tape to get a straight line and then he just left it there and painted over it! Really? I thought, how hard is it to pull it up and move on. When, in actuality, it had no ill effects on the painting, it maybe even added some extra texture. It was my ridged, perfectionist mindset that had been drilled into me during my career that was objecting to this practice, and if I wanted to loosen up and emulate a freer style, I needed to let go of this attitude.

It was also at this time that I started exploring with encaustics. Painting with molten wax, using a torch, and discovering how to manipulate the two to create a painting was definitely a lesson in patience and loosening up. I started to embrace the imperfections and actually strived to find them. This medium has allowed me to let go of the perfectionism and create works that are inspired by nature that fall somewhere between memories and dreams.

Weaving these two mediums and creative styles into my daily art practices has allowed me to grow as and artist. It has provided flexibility of expression, inspiration to push boundaries, and sparked many new ideas to explore. I am not sure there will be enough time to complete all the ideas swirling in my head.