I have been interested in art making since childhood and was encouraged to make art throughout my primary and secondary school years.
I studied at Red Deer College, gaining intensive experience in drawing, painting, visual fundamentals, ceramics, and sculpture.
My B.F.A. was completed at the University of Saskatchewan under the guidance of
Robert Christie and Otto Rogers.
As a result, my painting style is influenced by abstract expressionism,
colourfeild painting, and the formalist approach.
I am an independent artist living in Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada.
I create in my backyard studio and at The Studio on 20th with a group artist.
The large windows in my garden studio allow me to be close to
the beauty of my garden and the expanse of the prairie sky, a place of silence.
The downtown studio has a view of the busy streets and has the hum of people
coming and going in the core neighborhood.
I am inspired by the landscape of the prairies, particularly the aerial view and the lines that define the architecture in our environment.
When I work on a painting I search for variation, contradiction and similarity -
all the things that contribute to curiosity.
I also work as a counselling psychologist in private practice,
supporting others to search for hope and resiliency.
My first priority is growing with my family and friends.
A friend once told me that my finest work of art has been my children.
In my life people will always come first.
Artist's Statement:
My work gives recognition to the spaces that inspire me - the prairie seasons.
I am intrigued by the negative spaces in the environment that are defined by natural and man-made objects. It is within these spaces, or places, that I tell a story. I have been influenced and trained by formalist painters and their emphasis on colour, line, light and texture - the paint and process.
It is with these elements that I build layers and invite curiosity.
Using reduction, I arrive at the finished work.
I have a need to grow and change and as a result tend to work in series that are inspired by a particular muse. Although the muse may differ the mark making and painting style remain recognizable.
Making art is a process of exploration and discovery.
When preparing the work I spontaneously draw and apply medium and paint, creating chaos and struggle which keeps the work authentic. The process invites new possibilities and frames the sensitivity to light, colour, line and texture. The negative spaces hold individual stories or significant ideas, paintings unto themselves. The challenge is to ensure that these individual spaces exist as a whole.
It is a process of giving recognition to these spaces,
searching for balance in chaos, seeking relationships between the lines,
textures and overlapping colour planes. Taking chaos to calm.
Although the work is abstract in expression,
the "sometimes" familiar themes engage the viewer and invite them to linger,
enticing them to move closer to the canvas in search of stories within the layers. The work creates a relationship between representation and abstraction, which plays with the viewer’s expectations and allows them to experience both genres.
I have recently returned to my roots in abstraction, using an aerial view of the landscape as a muse - with a twist of awkwardness and juxtaposition.
I am continually motivated and trust in this quote:
“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes;
Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
Scott Adams