Artist Statement

For me, art is freedom. Whatever the medium, I lose myself the creation of something new. Creating just the right color for tree bark, or layering the paint to represent a field of grass in the fall, each piece of art is a part of me. Seeing something form under my hands is exhilarating.

My primary focus in my art is plein air, or “in the open air,” as it translates in French. I carry my paints, brushes, canvas and easel out to an area that happened to catch my eye, set up, and paint. Some paintings longer than others, but usually I lose track of time; I just watch the painting unfold. I start with an under painting of compliments in order to bring out the colors more vividly, getting down the structure and design of the painting. Then I start with the greens of the grass, the oranges or yellows of fall leaves, layering and adjusting the colors until I am satisfied. Then I go back and add details, small branches, texture in a sidewalk, small highlights and shades. There is no defined rule for when a painting is done. I just feel it. Then I bring it home and let it sit out for a while, and let it marinate. If I feel it’s necessary, I’ll add finishing touches, more highlights, or extra detail in an area.

When I work, I look for colors, light, shade, and try to recreate them in my own style. When I drive by a field I don’t see grass; I see oranges, yellows, purples, blues and greens. When I look up into a tree, I see planes of light and areas of shade, and my mind automatically switches to think, “how can I portray that color, or that light change.”

When I paint in plein air, I am reminded that I am a piece of a bigger whole. I am creating, mimicking the bigger Creator of us all, in my own style. When I complete a successful work of art, I feel I have captured a smaller, more humble piece of His bigger design.

Why Am I An Artist?

You may as well ask me why I have two arms and ten fingers. I am an artist because I can't help but create. God created us, and while my creations are not comparable to what He has made, I feel like I mimic Him a little when I compose an artwork. I look at a field and I don't see grass and cows and trees. I see reds and purples and oranges.

I always liked to draw, but I did have a time, like most, when I believed I couldn't draw. I would never go anywhere with it, and there were too many people that were better than me. Finally in high school I started taking some art classes. I still remember the day Mr. Bell seemed to smack me upside that back of the head by explaining how to draw what you SEE, not what you know is there. As obvious as this sounds, I started noticing wrinkles in fabric, shapes and textures. Shadows and highlights stood out to me. After some hard work and frustration, I realized that this was something I really could  do.

I continued taking classes throughout high school, and decided my senior year to go into art education. I wanted to share my passion with others, and give them the freedoms and thrills that I had gotten through art. In college, I recieved more training-and yes, I consider it training, like for a marathon, or for a trade- and fell in love with painting; something I had never tried before. "I think I found my niche," I told my parents on a visit home from college. I lost myself in the rush that was color mixing. Color theory took the breath out of me. Take three colors rarely seen in thier pure form in nature and turn them into a field of grass, flesh, water, sky, reflection, pain, love, happiness- anything you can imagine. My heart is racing now just thinking of it. The smell of acrylic paint stirred up on a palette still makes my mind race. "What next?" it beckons.

Once I got into painting, it seemed obvious to next combine it with my other love- nature. I enrolled in a plein aire class. Again, I lost my self to the breeze, the grass, the water and trees; the cast light and shadows. There are few things that can keep me stationary for hours at a time, but plein aire did. I was in love. I began driving by water and trees and grass and seeing them not as these simplicities, but as color. Did you know trees can be purple and grass can be red? And water? Every color you can imagine; and not always just those reflected from above.

Painting is a passion of mine that I hope to share with others. I hope that as you view my art, you are inspired to create something of your own. Not painting, necessarily, but your own art. Sculpture, poetry, anything that produces a purging of you imagination and your mind. It is incredibly freeing to create, and I invite you to find your own niche. Enjoy!