Artist's Statement
In the Artist's Own Words...
I use the medium of watercolor to express my love of nature. I feel anchored by the earth and have great faith in its endurance with respect to our own brief life spans. For me, finding the beauty in everyday things provides the balance that allows me to enjoy life. I also enjoy painting the relics of human culture, from memorabilia to architecture. I work either in my studio at home or in "plein air" when the conditions are agreeable. I call my work expressive realism.
I have traveled extensively and compiled an archive of original photographs from which I develop dynamic compositions and ultimately, finished works of art. I have lived my life behind a camera, a spectator, viewing and recording images that I find visually stimulating. The experience of painting allows me to explore the world in very specific and fleeting moments in which I render forms as they are defined by the changing light and the negative spaces that surround them.
Specific subjects I often paint include my garden in Montclair, NJ, flowers, ferns, houses, neighborhoods, chairs, rocks, rugged coastlines and the landscape of the great American West. Most recently I have been painting subject matter that is more "urban" in nature, a complement to the more conventional landscape envisioned in traditional watercolor painting, but appropriate and very familiar to an artist who has spent her life in the decaying industrial environs of New Jersey.
Background
I grew up in a very creative household in Riverton, New Jersey. My dad was a commercial artist and my mom was an art teacher. Both excellent artists, my parents took us on vacations that often meant stopping by a waterfall to dabble with watercolor, or at the very least shoot a few rolls of film. I began taking pictures at the age of five. I have two older siblings, so our house was always filled with science projects, piano music and an odd hobby or two.
I studied at Douglass College, Rutgers University and attribute my initial interest in painting to one of my more inspirational teachers, Philip Ayers. I graduated in 1976 with a degree in American Studies and Studio Art. While an undergraduate, I assisted in the art coordination of the New Jersey Folk Festival, including its debut year, 1975.
In 1979 I moved to New York City and began working in the field of multimedia as an art director and project coordinator. My most rewarding accounts included the design of several corporate business presentations held at the Hayden Planetarium (alas, no more). Many evenings I studied at the International Center of Photography. This was a very busy time for me in my fledgling career, and I began to find my inspirations to paint while on vacations to the coast of Maine and the canyons and deserts of the American west.
I moved to Montclair with my husband in 1990. My career no longer entailed slides but electronic media. I dedicated more time to my own creative pursuits, largely due to the fact that I became a freelancer and I was more easily inspired by the nature in my own back yard. And in 1997 I studied with Betty Lou Schlemm, a watercolorist I have admired for a long time.
Since 2003, I have actively been painting and exhibiting locally. I am currently available for work on commission, as well as watercolor classes.
I use the medium of watercolor to express my love of nature. I feel anchored by the earth and have great faith in its endurance with respect to our own brief life spans. For me, finding the beauty in everyday things provides the balance that allows me to enjoy life. I also enjoy painting the relics of human culture, from memorabilia to architecture. I work either in my studio at home or in "plein air" when the conditions are agreeable. I call my work expressive realism.
I have traveled extensively and compiled an archive of original photographs from which I develop dynamic compositions and ultimately, finished works of art. I have lived my life behind a camera, a spectator, viewing and recording images that I find visually stimulating. The experience of painting allows me to explore the world in very specific and fleeting moments in which I render forms as they are defined by the changing light and the negative spaces that surround them.
Specific subjects I often paint include my garden in Montclair, NJ, flowers, ferns, houses, neighborhoods, chairs, rocks, rugged coastlines and the landscape of the great American West. Most recently I have been painting subject matter that is more "urban" in nature, a complement to the more conventional landscape envisioned in traditional watercolor painting, but appropriate and very familiar to an artist who has spent her life in the decaying industrial environs of New Jersey.
Background
I grew up in a very creative household in Riverton, New Jersey. My dad was a commercial artist and my mom was an art teacher. Both excellent artists, my parents took us on vacations that often meant stopping by a waterfall to dabble with watercolor, or at the very least shoot a few rolls of film. I began taking pictures at the age of five. I have two older siblings, so our house was always filled with science projects, piano music and an odd hobby or two.
I studied at Douglass College, Rutgers University and attribute my initial interest in painting to one of my more inspirational teachers, Philip Ayers. I graduated in 1976 with a degree in American Studies and Studio Art. While an undergraduate, I assisted in the art coordination of the New Jersey Folk Festival, including its debut year, 1975.
In 1979 I moved to New York City and began working in the field of multimedia as an art director and project coordinator. My most rewarding accounts included the design of several corporate business presentations held at the Hayden Planetarium (alas, no more). Many evenings I studied at the International Center of Photography. This was a very busy time for me in my fledgling career, and I began to find my inspirations to paint while on vacations to the coast of Maine and the canyons and deserts of the American west.
I moved to Montclair with my husband in 1990. My career no longer entailed slides but electronic media. I dedicated more time to my own creative pursuits, largely due to the fact that I became a freelancer and I was more easily inspired by the nature in my own back yard. And in 1997 I studied with Betty Lou Schlemm, a watercolorist I have admired for a long time.
Since 2003, I have actively been painting and exhibiting locally. I am currently available for work on commission, as well as watercolor classes.
