ARTIST STATEMENT
EXHIBITION HISTORY
GALLERIES
MY FAVORITES


Artist Statement -



With early artistic training in dance and later study in the visual arts, I find that I want to fill my paintings with color and texture while exploring space and mood. Building on this foundation, I strive to express life and living, as well as form and essence. I embrace the opposites of fall and recovery, ebb and flow, and expansion and contraction.

Inspired by quantum physics, Gaia theory and the world views of a number of cultures, I seek the unity and flow in visions: dreamlike places; mythological scenes; sacred spaces. I am also inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s belief that we should be the change we want to see in the world. This guides me to try to imbue my paintings and jewelry with a tranquil, ethereal feeling. While the jewelry pieces are abstract, in the paintings I strive to reposition nature so that it serves not as background but as an integral part of our environment. Within these spaces, essential figurative forms develop. These scenes relay my hope that we can overcome the apparent deterioration of our social, cultural and environmental systems and live more harmoniously.

To achieve the rich, textured surface for these scenes, I work mostly in layers. In the jewelry, I use transparent and opaque glass, dichroic glass, silver and beads. In the paintings, I work in mixed-media, layering acrylic paint, decorative papers, found images, charcoal and other elements that help define the piece. When I begin a piece, I use music to help me envision a place and its inherent emotions. I begin by sketching, feeling the music, drawing its sounds, trying to see its colors. Often, I will look for fragments of found images that match these ideas. I then begin to piece the glass or paint. As the work progresses, I try to surrender to the materials and the process. The subject of the piece, its story and rhythm, develop from within. Through this unfolding, I discover and enhance the forms that evolve. I call the paintings figurative landscapes. They are the world as I wish it could be: figure and landscape intertwined and interdependent.

On glass panels:

I love color and the alchemy of taking solid pieces of glass, heating them until they melt and blend, and cooling them until they are united in a single form of flowing color and shape. While I have some control, there is also always an element of surprise as I open the kiln. It is a constant process of discovery. These pieces are all fused glass built by layering pieces of colored glass, firing them at 1200-1500 degrees, and often coldworking them to refine the shapes. The process may be repeated until the composition is appealing. Some of the pieces are then enhanced with fine silver settings and embellishments. In some of the pieces, I use dichroic glass -- that fiery, somewhat metallic looking glass. I also like to etch away the dichroic to make designs of black. When working on the panels, I begin with a pastel drawing. The rich colors and free flowing chalk help me capture the composition and energy that can be translated into glass. Along with using layers of glass, I melt stringers (long, thin pieces of glass) over a candle flame to get the fine, intricate shapes withing the panels.

Artist Exhibitions



UPCOMING: CC14, August, 2012
Lamorinda Open Studios, October 22-23, 2011
Preserve Lamorinda Open Space 2011
Art D'Light, 2011, Petaluma, CA
Day of the Dead Exhibit, 2011, Petaluma, CA
Valley Art Gallery Winter Shows, 2008-2010
Civic Arts Shows, Shadelands Art Center, 2008-2010
Albany Arts Central Show, 2008
Crucible Holiday Show, 2008
Preserve Lamorinda Open Space 2007
Santa Clara Art & Wine, Santa Clara, CA 2007
Fire and Ice, Martinez, CA, 2007
Preserve Lamorinda Open Space Show, Moraga, CA 2006
Lamorinda Arts Alliance Show, Lafayette, CA 2006
Valley Art Gallery Winter Show, Walnut Creek, CA 2005
Solo Show, Countrywide Mortgage, Walnut Creek, CA, 2005
Civic Arts Show and Sale, Walnut Creek, CA, 2005
Landscapes of the Mind, Diablo Valley College Gallery, 2005
Solo Show, Alameda Marketplace, Alameda, CA 2005
Holiday Invitational, Alameda Art Center, Alameda
Solo Show, Diablo Valley Colllege, Pleasant Hill, CA 2004
Sacred Images, Alameda Art Center, Alameda, 2004
Two-Woman Show, Hotel Triton, San Francisco, 2004
Modern Myth, CC14 Invitational Show, Concord,2004
Inaugural Show, Alameda Art Center, Alameda, 2004
Paintings accompanying Contra Costa Wind Symphony, Shaky Hand Gallery, Martinez, 2004
Contra Costa Showcase, Martinez Arts Commission, Martinez, 2004
Winter Show, ThirstyBear Restaurant, San Francisco, 2004
Winter Show, ArtPeople Gallery, San Francisco, 2003
Winter Show, John Muir Hospital, Walnut Creek, 2003 (2nd place award)
Lamorinda Arts Alliance Show, Orinda Library, Orinda, 2003
Seasonal Shows, Rivertown Art Center, Antioch, 2003
Solstice, Lynn House Gallery, Antioch, 2003
The Café Show, SOMARTS Gallery, San Francisco, 2003
Microcosm (regional juried show), Artisans Gallery, Mill Valley, 2003
Dream Art Exhibition (national juried show), Association for the Study of Dreams, 2003
Lamorinda Open Space Show, Moraga, CA 2003 and 2004
Annual Juried Show, Brentwood, CA 2002
Open Studios, Moraga, CA 2002 and 2003
Pear Festival, Moraga, CA 2002
Spring Show and Sale, Civic Arts Education, Walnut Creek, CA 2002
America’s Pride, Brentwood, CA 2002
Art Aware, Brentwood, CA 2002
The Flag Project, One Station Plaza, Peekskill, NY, 2002
Artwalk, Benicia Main Street Project, Benicia, CA, 2001
Fall Show, Diablo Valley College, Concord, CA, 2000
Abstractions, Civic Arts Education, Walnut Creek, CA 1999
...

Artist Publications



Highlighted in 2010 Civic Arts Sale article in the Contra Costa Sun
Included in "Creative Glass" published in 2010
Three paintings printed in Vol.1, 2008 of the Journal of SandPlay Therapy
Artwork shown in the January/February 2007 issue of Somerset Studios
Chosen for Gallery V,a Stampington publication,Summer 2006
Chosen for 'Tips and Picks' in NY Arts Magazine May/June issue
Profiled in the DVC Inquirer, December, 2004
Profiled in the Contra Costa Sun, December, 2004...

Artist Collections



Numerous private, corporate, museum, gallery and government collections detailed information coming soon.

Artist Favorites