Artist’s Statement

My work as an abstract artist allows me to explore, to play, and to express my emotions through movement and colour. Each of my works fuses the intended composition of the piece with how I’m feeling and with an exploration of the materials and surface that I am working with at that time. I often become lost in the process – experimenting and leaping from idea to idea.

While many of my pieces are purely abstract, the influence of my deep love of nature informs other pieces – waves, sea life, flowers, rocks, trees, and landscapes make their appearances – sometimes recognizable, sometimes only hinted at.

My current work is primarily in two mediums – alcohol inks and encaustic.

With alcohol inks, I love to incorporate with different surfaces, textures, and mediums. I love to experiment with how the inks flow, interact, and how I can influence their movement. The results are vibrant and fresh and evoke the natural world. When working with inks, I often choose three to six colours and a single surface (YUPO, TerraSkin, metal leaf, board, or whatever I can think of) and play. Each piece helps inspire the next when I am working this way.

Encaustic is an ancient art form which uses a wax-based medium. With encaustic, I am able to influence the entire process: from sourcing the wax, to making the encaustic all the way through to the finished piece.  I can control the intensity, clarity, richness, and luminosity of the colours and how they interplay.  I also love that encaustic is a 3-D medium that I can manipulate through carving or with heat. Each piece is layered, often with 15 or more layers.

With some of my work, I combine these media – with encaustic forming a wonderful base for the ink. The results are complex and colourful creations.

My hope is  that people are moved and inspired by my work – by the playful celebration of movement and expression of emotion that is captured in each of my pieces.