Originally printed in the The Union – October 30, 2008
Describe your art: My paintings are expressionistic, featuring the human form emerging from abstract geometric shapes and symbols. I use rich colors, textures, and layers to explore relationships. My paintings almost always are of people, often of diverse cultures, in relationships of love and communion. My work is influenced by years of travel, living in, and studying different cultures.
How long doing it? I began painting 35 years ago. After several years living in India and traveling throughout the world on a journey of spiritual exploration, my life took a sudden and dramatic turn when 10 years ago I suffered a brain injury in a serious head-on car collision. My life was turned around and during my rehabilitation I began to paint again. This time, new and exquisite forms emerged from the passion I find in the beauty of life.
Why do you do it? Painting is how I express my devotion to the mystery of life. For me, the mystery dwells everywhere, in every thing, but is often veiled by the activity and concerns of everyday life.
What do you hope to accomplish? My intention is to evoke a sense of soul, depth, reverence and joy for those viewing my paintings.
Does my art convey a message? If paintings are windows, mine peer into a world where the line between archetype and ordinary reality is blurred, where the ancient rubs shoulders with the present, and where borders dissolve.
Where do you want to be with this in the future? To make my work available on a much broader scale to more people.
Any special training required? I received my B.A. in art and art history from UC Santa Cruz, and a M.Ed. in Expressive Arts Therapies. Besides the formal training necessary in any art form, years of experimentation along with creative openness and a spirit of adventure are required.
Favorite part? Watching the painting emerge from a white canvas. Without knowing where I am going with the piece, I watch as it develops and the images make themselves known to me. I love that I do not know what a painting will be until I see it coming into form through the unstructured color and textures on the canvas. This is absolutely fantastic to me.
Least favorite part? Marketing.
Time it takes? It is more than full time. Being an artist involves how you look at life, how you see the world around you all day, every day. It is noticing shadows on a face, on the street, the buildings and mountains. It is observing shapes and color when engaged in a conversation. It is seeing the way the first light showers upon the morning. Nothing is left out. I often tell people that the time spent in front of the canvas with brush in hand is only a fraction of the time I work on any given piece. So I am working on my art all of the time. No part of my life is left out of my work.
Is it hard to do? Yes. It is demanding. When the flow is happening, it can run sweet as a river of honey. When its not, it can be torture.