Drawing is the foundation of all my art. Drawing from life, whether figures or landscapes inspires my imagery. I scrutinize over form and then subtract the static. Images that were once complicated become calmer and the static is no longer necessary.

Travel plein air sketches and figure studies are my greatest inspiration but only the initial step in the process. The translation of line from these studies into linoleum or wood blocks is when my images become finished works. The immediacy and physicality of carving the blocks is the heart of the process and one that I am pursuing as its own entity. I am now creating and showing the blocks as finished works rather than only using them as a tool for creating prints. They have always been an integral part of the process but were rarely seen. These 4”x4” blocks are the initial result of my pursuit.

My prints have become a combination of plein air sketches, doodles, and composition studies. In seeing places and people that have inspired others, I conjure up different stories, simultaneously getting to know a place or object while creating a new destiny for it. My goal is to create strong simple imagery with a little wiggle room for interpretation by the viewer. I want my images relatable, and yet to hold a smidge of mystery or untold story. I enjoy creating visually uncomplicated versions of things while having another layer of meaning running in the back of my mind. I include symbols placed into landscapes, ie. Criers, Ladders, GlowGlobes. These enhance composition, and the meaning within the arrangement. Whether blatant or not, emotion runs through all my images, some simply playful, others vengeful, dark, some longing for an escape, and others optimistically filled with pleasant surprise.

In developing my GlowGlobes, I doodled a simple design that is both organic and structured. At its most elementary form, they are just dots and lines. The blocks can be placed together to fit a large space, or shown with only a few, or singularly in an intimate setting. The imagery appears everywhere in the environment to me now – the San Diego tree line, the human form, nails scathing into a piece of wood, raindrops splashing and dripping down a windshield, wildflowers on the side of the road, rhythmic notes dancing on a page. They can be interpreted differently depending on mood, presentation, form, and surrounding. They are my ultimate example of interpreting nature into art. In print form, the different colors convey very different feelings – loneliness, solitude under electric globe stars,  playfulness, energy, growth, light – life!    
 
I earned my BFA from the Hartford Art School in West Hartford CT  in Printmaking and a double minor in Illustration and Art History. 
(Class of 2007)

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