I grew up on a farm in the South. Our playmates were the trees and birds, animals, and whatever we could make ourselves: paper dolls, snowflakes, dioramas for our toy horses, drawings. . . lots of drawings. From an early age I understood art and imagination to be a way to enter into a realm of unlimited possibility. We spent most of our time outside and in the woods, so it has been a natural progression for me to be interested in landscape painting. I love organic plant forms contrasted against the planar shapes of the earth, the ever-changing sky and water. To be outside, a silent onlooker as sunrise becomes morning and then afternoon, is when I am happiest. To record my observations and feelings on canvas feels like a secret privilege. This is a bi-lobed statement because for some time now these children have been appearing in my paintings. When the youngest of our children left home I found myself reflecting on the nature of childhood, so these paintings are a logical outgrowth of that process. I love these children jumping into water -- for me this is a metaphor for entry, for becoming. I realize I love the sense of potential and possibility, the raw spontaneity of children. My use of multi=layered imagery-- printmaking, drawing, photo transfers, as well as painted imagery -- is by way of underscoring this thread of meaning. My hope is that viewers will begin to connect with their own childhoods, their own unrealized dreams and aspirations. I also hope to be able to integrate these two ‘lobes’ -- that is, landscapes and water children -- into a cohesive whole. That is my goal for the next year. The only thing I know for sure is that beauty is a nonverbal truth, able to move the hearts and minds of people into the realm of unlimited possibility. I want my work to serve as an entry point into that transcendent landscape. CORPORATE COLLECTIONS HONORS AND AWARDS
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