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ARTIST
STATEMENT I have always had a
love for art, and now that I look back at my childhood it was apparent I
was on an artistic path even then.
As my grandmother proudly gazes at the painting I have sent to her,
she reminisces about her 4 year old grand daughter, drawing “the perfect
stickman” in
black crayon, on the floor of the family room. Even my love for nature was very evident
at a young age as I can remember sketching during family vacations,
capturing the images of our travels.
My nature walks and hikes are not as brisk as most might
travel. I cannot help but gaze at
every color, shape and texture that nature has on her ever-changing
palette; mesmerized
by the unspoiled beauty.
It is obvious that capturing the realism of nature would be the
focus of my work.
Art is where I go to explore and express. I get lost in it. It is the only thing I seem to have an
infinite patience for as I can sit for hours and meticulously paint every
hair of lichen growing on a tree.
Each piece is experienced first with the exploration of my subjects,
studying all the natural elements on almost a personal level. For me, it is important to paint the
smallest of pixie-cup lichen or the damselfly resting on a blade of grass. It captures the whole story and essence of
the subject and hopefully exposes it to the viewer as an important part of
the whole picture, not just in the painting, but in nature itself. It is an awareness and appreciation of
the world around us. It is with this
challenge that I get satisfaction.
For when a viewer appreciates how a leaf is curled, notices the
pixie-cup lichen or catches sight of the damselfly, it is then that I
realize I have successfully expressed a part of nature to them.
Capturing nature through art is a way to preserve it and pass
it on to generations to come. “A beautiful thing never gives so much
pain as does failing to see it.” (Michelangelo) Pause, and take a closer look.
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