The Process

I begin my paintings in a few different ways.

Sometimes I have an idea in my mind that’s related to a certain landscape. In that case, I start by working off its palette, laying down paint from what I imagine the landscape to feel like. Other times I begin with words or thoughts that have been swirling around in my head, so I’ll start by writing them down repeatedly in chalks or pastels, all over my canvas until I get a feeling of what colors or tool I’d like to work with next. Of course sometimes I choose to simply start with the colors I know and love, then build off them by adding marks in graphite, chalk and colored pencils.

I also love to use large tools (my hands included) to swipe, drip, throw and mix paint onto canvas. It provides me a way ‘in’ to my work where I can interact with it in ways that brushes cannot. I love the actual feeling of paint and how it acts as the medium between my intangible thoughts and the physical canvas.

Mark-making towards the end of my paintings adds detail, emotion and subtlety that brings, what I like to call, a certain ‘lusciousness’ to both the work and the viewer. I love these imperfections – it’s what brings my work to life.

While I do love every stage of painting, I have to say that scraping and sanding to reveal what’s hidden underneath the layers is definitely one of my favorites. I love the intrigue, mystery and subsequent surprise I receive from my ‘excavations’. I have found that it’s much like life: a process for uncovering what’s already there, just needing and waiting to be found. The amazing thing about creating is that the more art you make, the more you uncover and find yourself

 

– and I have always been searching.