My creative process

I'm extremely passionate about taking what's in my head & heart and expressing that boldly & vividly onto the canvas.

The very first medium I began working in was watercolor, and it will always be my first love.

But like most creatives, I followed my curiosity and started dabbling in other mediums.

(Being a middle child it's almost impossible for me to choose any one thing, especially in the realm of creativity where there's so many choices! If you're also a middle child then you know that the feeling of being pulled in multiple directions is a thing lol.)

For the last few years I've been working mostly in encaustic. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, encaustic is a mixture of melted beeswax & tree resin. The hot, melted wax mixture is applied to any porous surface (typically wood) and then manipulated with various tools to provide texture, interest & color.

I just love the feeling of the wax surface when you run your hands across it — it's one of the most magical things in the world!

Oh, and I love using cut paper, gold leaf, pan pastels, oil pastels, oil paint — and yes, even watercolors with the encaustic wax when it makes sense.

Using a variety of mediums with the wax gives me a sense of freedom & adventure, and the opportunity for that middle child in me to try all the things!!!

As for the subject of my art...

My inspiration normally comes from the places I've discovered, and the sights I've seen along the way. Sometimes it's an architectural detail I fell in love with while strolling in a beautiful city, or something colorful I've come across while walking in the woods, on the beach, or in a botanical garden.

Once I've captured this image either in my mind's eye, or with a sketch &/or camera, I then go back to the studio and attempt to re-create that powerful emotion I felt at first glance.

I rely on different creative devices to help capture this feeling. These include using bold color, high contrast, zooming in close, using a unique angle, &/or adding texture.

But no matter what methods I choose to help tell my story, what I attempt to express is how the subject made me feel when I first laid eyes on it — and that's something only the heart can translate onto the canvas.

My creative journey started around the turn of the century, but it's hard to pin down exactly when my inner artist started surfacing.

Perhaps she's been with me all along.

But that doesn't matter too much, does it?

Hopefully what really matters is taking the essence of what's floating in one's head & in one's heart, and making it manifest.

So that's what I'm doing — one painting at a time!

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