Artist Statement

I am a self-directed artist living and working in Fort Worth, Texas.  I am a reflection of my environment, and my environment is a reflection of me.  The concept of my art is to evoke a love of nature and reveal the spiritual experiences hidden therein.  Tree bark becomes a metaphor for the brokenness and scarring of childhood sexual abuse.  Landscapes of State and National Parks are monuments to the monuments themselves, a historical and spiritual record of my personal experience.    Paintings

of flora represent my internal movement once touched by this beauty. Abstracts are often torn out of me and express something that I cannot express any other way.  I have no words.  As I examine my subject, I pull the colors out and reduce the lines down. I take from the most interesting areas of my subject, placing sections into a cohesive composition of lines and areas of visual interest.  I use color to either portray the subject so that it is recognizable or to exaggerate that which I think I see.  I use color to convey feeling.  I start with the foundational layers.  If it is a landscape, I start with the sky and come forward.  With the tree bark series, I start with the dominant color, often gray, adding layers of colors as I see them on the tree or in my imagination.  I outline to define areas of contrast as in a stained-glass window.  I may add highlights and shadows with short strokes and dots.  I interpret how I respond emotionally to my subjects through the use of color and line and communicate that concept to the viewer by doing so.