Gallery

When I was younger I had imaginary friends, they were my monsters. Don’t call it a come back… oh wait maybe call it a comeback. In an homage to the child I was and still am deep inside I have started to create monsters again. These four monsters are drawn in ink in order to contrast the loose flowing watercolor. The black ink seems more substantial or “real” than the whimsy of the shimmery flowing color, flipping the thought of the imaginary. I gathered real living plants from a wild mountain in The Appalachian. These plants were used to make the markings on this piece but bring so much whimsy, flipping the thought of real. The monsters that live in my imagination I can draw in ink, they are very real.

Near my house we use to have the most adorable red fox family. The fox Loosey is a depiction of, was full of so much character, and for sure had a mischievous streak. She was very friendly and curious.

Sketchy is a depiction of a fox family member that lived close to me. The style shows off the fox's personality.

My Lady is an oil abstraction. The greens and blues of nature fade into each other in the background while she sways and dances through her day. There is so much to her story.

Being among all the amazing beauty nature has to offer has the ability to imprint glitter on your soul.

So often our focus shapes our reality. What we choose to see and what revels itself to us are both at play in any experience. How we choose to see what reveals itself to us is another layer. Something can appear so detailed just like outside the bold black ink shape. All the detail is there plainly in black and white. When you move inward the choice of focus changes. Instead of all the exact detail we now get to see the vibrance and color of the shapes. We are also met with the soft watercolor in-between the shapes giving depth to the spaces in-between. The space in-between is somehow unnoticed among all the detail on the outside. Perspective is everything. When we focus on one thing often we miss the other. Sometimes our perspective can keep us from seeing the whole picture and truly understand what we are experiencing. There is beauty in the ability to see things differently.

There is a special time when the solar disc is just below the horizon technically called the Alpenglow. It is more endearingly called pink mountain time in my home. There is more than magic in those mountains. There is no way to capture the beauty and feeling it gives when getting to sit on the porch and enjoy the show with your loved ones by your side. The feeling is here. This is what it feels like. When the fog rolls in it wipes so much away, like an eraser just removing everything below it. The curiosity of the blank page does wonders for giving that feeling of staring at the fog. Knowing something could be there but its just not. The newly perceived base of the mountain now is the most intriguing part of the giant, peaking in and out of the fog, dancing along. You feel like you are in another world all alone with just the beauty of nature and your loves by your side.

The final piece in a series of 3, depicting the process of truly breaking entirely, searching for yourself again, and then putting yourself back together. Reconstruct depicts the moment we step into our own, confidently. The moment we are proud to be everything that is us. Refining all those beautiful jewels we found during Expand and grateful for the space to grow from Shatter.

First in a series of three depicting the process of truly breaking entirely, searching for yourself again, and then putting yourself back together. Shatter depicts the breaking apart of a previous mold that no longer serves our greatest good. The pain, abandon, lonely, beautiful, chaotic breaking of it all. The darkness seems to take over the majority of the space. There are a few pieces left that we can see to find our beauty in. The hope is that they don’t float away and leave the flower with nothing. The soft pastels are representative of the fragility we all feel during these raw times.

This man is my rock. He is my path in the darkness. He is my heart and soul. The galaxy behind him shows that there is so much more beyond where we are now. He stands taller than mountains but is also firmly rooted and confident in his footing. His footing is on the central mountain, a heart.

This is one of a series where I paint plants with my non-dominant hand. I love the freedom and abandon I get when painting with my left hand. The dichotomy of the knowing, as an artist, of my right hand’s ability and the uncontrolled nature of a hand that has never been more than an ornament is nothing less than fun. The only thing I paint with my right hand is my signature. The depiction of perfect nature in such an unnatural way is something I enjoy playing with. Letting go and letting the imperfect strokes take over and show the character behind the plant is one of my favorite things about my left-handed series.

The depth of darkness and layering of shadows in ink create a chaotic scene, but one filled with hope and excitement. This is an exploration of plant and nature. I used plants harvested from land in the Appalachian Mountains to create this piece. Each plant and its uniqueness was my brush or stamp.

Often times as time continues to do its thing, we look back. When I do I notice the sweet moments in-between moments. These little pockets of joy can be so satisfying and filling if we ever decide to be present in them. Bask in their beauty and uniqueness. The things on the way to what is perceived the big things are often what makes those moments so sweet. A Good Morning captures the sweetness and purity of these amazing beautiful moments that stack up and create the picture of our lives. The ones that give the meaning behind the feeling. This piece is very close to my heart. My kids and husband each have something gathered here. Something that paints a bigger picture of us and our lives than just mere object sitting on a table. There is meaning behind so much and yet to everyone else it just looks like a gathering of maybe ordinary things, but it tells a story of an extraordinary life and the ability to soak up all the goodness in the moments in between.

The story of lives past and the intrigue the unknown ripple through this piece. Shadow planets are present everywhere fading into the background. Other planets are illuminated and have their day in the spotlight. The galactic motion and movement shows these planets in all in different stages, but all hurling towards an unknown all the same. The unknown being illuminated from the inside is equally alluring and terrifying.

Prim is a depiction of a fox family member that lives close by. She is a very prismatic character.