Beauty envisioned through introspection is the inspiration for my art. Over the years I have developed a personal aesthetic based on subjectivity, drawing upon my imagination through experimental processes. I feel a deep creative empathy with nature, and the patterns, textures, and rhythms of my natural surroundings are expressed in many layerings of translucent color. After forty years of living in Santa Barbara, California, I have recently moved to Oregon, and find new inspiration in the northern light, changing seasons, and forests and rivers.
For several years the main body of my work has consisted of paintings in oil and alkyd on canvas. My “Erosion” series are close to landscape and have a strong sense of place. I applied several layers of textures and glazing, and included metallic and interference paints in the layers.
Also over the years, Middle Eastern art and the romantic poetry of the Sufis have been inspirations for many paintings. These have included iconic paintings on paper featuring an arch motif, the “In the Garden” series, and “Threshold” paintings which allude to doorways of mystery. In 2011 I began to further explore this interest in Middle Eastern art in the “Kilims” and “Magic Carpet” paintings.
These paintings are also windows into a terra incognita, whose secrets are veiled with the intricate patterns and textures of Middle Eastern weavings. Like the “Erosion” paintings, the Magic Carpets feature many layerings of colors and textures. A sense of depth and metaphoric space is created which invites the viewer to more inward journeying.
Right now my work is in transition, as my new paintings are becoming lighter, brighter, and more reductively abstract. I am exploring new ways of working in acrylic, and look forward to presenting my new work in 2013.
