As a mixed media artist, my work explores memory and legacy. Sometimes a connection between the materials and their history is obvious, such as using letters and cards I’ve saved over 50 years, working with discarded clothing or using flattened metal collected alongside the road. Other times the connection is more obscure, like when I retrieve and revisit art ideas from my childhood.
Using a wide variety of materials and techniques, I engage my eyes and my hands in exploring and experimenting to see what happens. It’s the discovery, the surprises that delight me most! Metal, paint, screening, wire, pastels, charcoal, masking tape, bones, cardboard, fabric, stones, pods, graphite, wood, ink all find their way into my work. Drawing and painting, assemblage, printmaking, stitching, stringing, layering, twisting, glueing, binding and tying are methods I use to create.
I often work in multiples — repeating a form to create variations on a theme and making a whole that is bigger than the sum of its parts. Narrative is another important element of my work — every piece carries a story. This impulse reflects the decades I worked as a broadcast journalist before turning full-time to visual art.
I follow my instincts, pursuing things that catch my eye and move my heart. Consciously and unconsciously, my work reflects a life-long connection to the natural world. That’s where I find joy, solace and glimpses of the divine. My imagination is sparked by what’s outside myself, which simultaneously reflects the inner human experience of life.