I am drawn to the colors and light in the landscapes of Washington, British Columbia and Hawaii. Among my painting influences: Emily Carr, Georgia O'Keefe, Georges Seurat, Vincent van Gogh, René Magritte and Edward Hopper. Many images are loosely based on my own location photography, and sometimes on images I've composited. I create some of these images using a Wacom tablet and the natural media brushes in Photoshop. Others are acrylic on canvas.
I want to walk up to a painting and have a sense of wonder, like I could jump right in or touch the thing I'm looking at, or if it's more graphic have my eye wander around the right way. In a good image, no matter the medium, delight, connection, peace, struggle, sadness—all these types of emotions are evoked with color, contrast, place, and perspective. My many years as a graphic designer, photographer and writer inform how these paintings evolve. I find the thought process and experience deeply satisfying.
I have a vast trove of reference material, years of photography, graphic snippets, that I draw from. I comb my inspiration folders and look for color and design elements that convey these experiential emotions for me.
