Acxrylic, collage on handmade paper
7.5" x 5.5" framed to 11.25" x 14.25"
 
 
About Technique

From the beginning I painted landscapes. It took me years to leave the horizon line behind. I thought that landscape would be the only way for people to relate to my work. Over and over again I tried to free myself. At heart, I am an abstract painter.
 
I work with history behind me. The years of looking at art and observing nature, it’s all there in every painting I do.
 
I painted in college for three years where I also studied Alber’s theory of color. Returning to painting many years later, I began by making my own paper. Because of time constraints I was forced to switch from making my own paper to using the paper that other people made. A family, a job, I could not be both a paper maker and a painter. The way I made (handmade) paper take to stain became more consistent. My images begged for collage. I put down my brushed and gained a new vocabulary. Eventually, I began to pour acrylic stain, mixed with colored particles into shallow containers. Then I peeled off the plastic and used it for collage work. Of course, I am always picking up interesting collage material – a dried up apple core, an amazing leaf, flower petals, pieces of rusted metal, weed and seeds – so many things, a feast for the discerning eyes. 
 
Balance is so important when you leave the horizon line. There is nothing to cling to. However scary (fear is just another challenge) that is what my creative voice called for. 
 
Soon, another journey began, a move toward simplicity. I’ve always loved the late work of Matisse, when he could no longer paint, the simplicity of his cutouts. He had rid himself of the extraneous and unnecessary. Like an emptied mind, simplicity is no easy goal.
 
I no longer look for beauty in my work. It’s all in the eyes of the beholder. It always surprises me when a client falls in love with a piece that I completed long ago.