“Landscapes” Artist’s Series Statement:
My love of landscape originally developed from the discipline of plein air painting. For me, the immersion ‘in’ the landscape is transportive. These days I find myself taking excursions for hiking/reference trips and although I'm working on pieces in the studio, when I hear my viewers say “oh, I want to be there”, I know that I’ve tapped into their need for 'immersion' as well.
I am attracted to lush landscapes whether 'in the wild' or structured gardens. Within these lush scenes, multiple views of an area become a point of interest for me. Although I’m not doing diptychs or triptychs, I am understanding the grandeur within a microcosm, like Monet and his repetition of waterlilies. In just a few steps a scene can change so dramatically that I am drawn to keep the area but with a different view and/or creating works in separate mediums.
I currently paint watercolor on YUPO or acrylic paints. I am attracted to The vibrancy of color and luminous nature that the synthetic paper (YUPO) affords. It also enables me to explore textures, be bold, and achieve the ‘lush’ escape I’m going for. Concurrently, the use of acrylics with palette knives pushes me further into an impressionistic expression with the added excitement of thick texture.
I am drawn not only to the beauty within a scene, but am careful to include beckoning elements of light/shadow, repetition and depth. Scenes chosen revolve around a dance of light and shadow and it's own sense of invitation to explore; pathways are common to include for this reason. Quiet, hidden, reflective/introspective....lush; these are things I look for. I am polarized by scenes that make me forget my troubles and I feel "enveloped", even if just for a moment.
“Genre” Series Artist Statement:
Watercolor on Yupo has been a challenge and recent focus for my everyday-life scenes involving portraiture. I had been painting landscapes as a way to escape my troubles; and throughout covid, I began to experiment with media, mediums and techniques that I'd never tried before; such as watercolor on Yupo, a synthetic paper. I also spent a lot of time with close family (during covid lock-downs) and so my love for genre themes continued to grow and become very personal. This personal nature involves my affections, feelings, and light-hearted approach as my real midwest reality wears upon my sleeve. I consider myself a 'deep thinker', but I'm always looking for the humor in life. I share deeper thoughts on individual pieces I have on Artreprenuer.
Although Yupo is known for it's ease in subtractive painting, I paint in a layered add-on approach... very seldomly 'erasing' what I've laid down. This approach is more painstaking in having to only lay one pass down at a time followed by the time it takes to fully dry in-between passes (because we are talking about evaporation on plastic).. but this method gives me a distinctive look and feel that is uncommon for most purveyors of Yupo. I also find myself using watercolor pencils and ink as well.
Would you like to see a history of ALL the art I've done?: -All art including Commissions-
Current News and Events (in no particular order)
• National Oil & Acrylic Painter Society Associate Member ONLINE EXHIBITION 2024
• 43rd Annual Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolor 8/3/2024 – 9/28/2024 (Old Forge, NY)
• Solo Show: July 6, - Aug. 31, 2024 Marcia Evans Gallery (Columbus, OH) *Live-Paint* at the August 3rd Short North Gallery Hop from 3-6PM (full hop hours open noon - 8PM)
• Findlay ArtWalk Aug. 2nd, 5-9PM, I will be doing a Live-Paint @ The Hancock Hotel
• Ohio State Fair 2024 Fine Art Exhibition July 24 - August 4, 2024 (Columbus, OH) • received the Connie Layne Drawing Excellence Award
• Artists Magazine, "40th Annual Art Competition", I received Second Place in the landscape division.
• International Artist magazine, "Grand Prize": Challenge #141 Landscapes, published in Issue 157 June/July 2024
• Interview. The Blade, "Natural grandeur: Fostoria artist captures vibrancy in Ohio landscapes" (Toledo, OH)
• Bowling Green Arts Council, "6ft. ApART: Creativity during COVID" June 20-July 31 BGAC ArtSpace, 178 S. Main Street, Bowling Green OH - rear entrance of Coyote Beads and Jewelry • received Best of Show
• American Watercolor Society 2024 Associate Member Show June 6th - Aug. 20, 2024 (Online)
• Accepted: Acrylic International Exhibition which will be on view at the Kenosha Public Museum from August 17 through October 27, 2024. (Kenosha, WI)
• Accepted: Coburn Art Gallery "Climate" 8/29-9/28 2024 (Ashland, OH)
...Upcoming...
• Accepted into The Ohio Watercolor Society's: "WatercolorOhio 2024" The show will be at the Middletown Arts Center in Middletown, September 9 - October 17, 2024 (Middletown, OH)
• Finalist. AcrylicWorks 11 : The Best of Acrylic, on newsstands September 2024
• The Arts Commission, "Momentum Festival 2024", September 20-22nd (Toledo, OH)
• Accepted: 25th Annual AIS National Juried Exhibition, September 27 – October 26, 2024 (Rockport, Massachusetts)
• 2025 Cleveland Botanical Gardens/Holden Forests & Garden, Sept./Oct. (Cleveland, OH)