My art is an ode to beauty and nature

The trails, wetlands, beaches, bluffs, meadows and gardens in Golden Gate Park, the Presidio and Land’s End in San Francisco are my ‘neighbors’ as well as endless sources of inspiration for my paintings and drawings. My imagination is triggered by dappled light patterns in the shadows of a grove of eucalyptus trees, upturned petals of magnolia blossoms, golden blades of dune grass all blowing in different directions or a trail that disappears into thick clouds of fog.

I am always sketching, taking photographs, googling or clipping images to spark my imagination or use as reference materials. Some ideas evolve over time while others arrive like sparks and require an immediate fanning of the flames.

I often reinterpret what I’m seeing and start stretching reality. Distorting and exaggerating objects in nature provides me with fresh perspectives and points of departure. I like to think of my creative process as a conversation with ecologies.

I alternate between drawing with ink and painting with watercolors, creating spontaneous marks and multiple layers of texture. To paraphrase Emily Dickenson, it’s about finding “that phosphorescence, that light within.“

My mark making interweaves fact and fiction. I take imaginative leaps and fold stories into a line. The inky blackness, dancing strokes and manipulated pigments generate a map of interconnecting impressions. Each gesture is a songline that helps me to navigate what I am seeing and feeling. There are always stories waiting to be told, that awaken the mystery in the familiar.