P a i n t i n g

Painting requires presence yet an element of detachment. When I paint, I don't always know where I
am going, but after I finish I always know where I have been. During the process...I struggle to let go
and struggle to stay present. There is always a need to respond to the painting with the combined
effort to follow direction rather than give instruction and the inspiration for paintings comes from
things I see, people I meet and most often landscapes which surround me. Landscapes capture my
attention with their shapes and colors and my response to the two. Whether looking out the window
of an airplane at defined shapes, driving through the spaces of living color in Northern California or
wrapped in the expansive blue skys of Texas, to look and connect with nature creates calmness.

I transfer these images and the feeling they create inside me onto canvas. The colors are bold and
energetic and laid onto canvas with intense energy while the smell of oil paints fill my studio. It's often
spontaneous, unpredictable and comes from a place of total intuition that I shape, form and fine tune
images on the canvas in front of me. The drips, the brush strokes and the shapes happen in a near
hypnotic state of mind as I often become unaware of my surrounding during this process. Complete, it
is as though I have given birth to something that has a life of its own. I feel connected and at peace
until the next painting is started.

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E n c a u s t i c   P a i n t i n g

Encaustic is the medium, technique or process of painting with mostly beeswax, resin and pigments
that are fused together with heat. Heat is used at every stage of encaustic painting and is the solvent
for encaustic. Heat binds each layer to the one laid down before it.

Once applied to the surface, encaustic paint doesn't need to dry; however, it needs to cool. Since it
cools in minutes, additional layers can be added almost immediately. Once its surface has cooled,
encaustic paint presents a permanent finish and yet the painting can be revised and reworked at any
time...whether seconds later or years later. Wax is impervious to moisture and over time can retain all
the qualities of a newly finished work.

I am attracted to the smell of beeswax and the similarity that heating the wax and pigments has to
cooking a meal. In addition, I like the fact that the process of encaustic painting can be a bit out of
control at times. This allows for surprises to surface from one layer to the next. In addition, the
luminosity of the paint is beautiful. The history of encaustics dates back to as long ago as the 5th
century and yet today, encaustic painting is represented by artists around the world. I feel that I bring
a bit of history into each work...not only in a technical sense but personally as well. I recycle found
objects and items often tossed in the trash and work them into each layer of molten wax. My most
recent body of work includes egg cartons while I have used doll parts, pictures from childhood and
fabric in other pieces. Memories and feelings always surface with every layer and yet they can always
be reworked at any time.