I Work

in a variety of ways to create art, prints, patterns and products. 

Sometimes I create a focused print or product collection. Before I begin to make art, I research trends, analyze end-user demographics and figure out what your company needs to maintain your voice, meet your production requirements and engage and intrigue your customers.

Sometimes I just make art. This usually begins in my studio with mixed media materials (of late, my new love - encaustic) that I photograph as the process unfolds. After uploading the photos I tinker with them in Photoshop and Illustrator and further develop the textures and patterns that appear. Sometimes I layer the images of the pieces in different phases and alter the transparency. And then there are Ai and PS filters where I get lost building up layers. The layers of the piece are the history of the process. It's a magical process, that feels like it comes from a place I don't consciously inhabit. Alchemy!

Lately, my work has focused on fabrics for interiors. I've been studying traditional dye processes from Japan and Africa, printing processes from France, India and Africa and stitching processes from Mexico, India, Japan and Africa. I'm using an amalgamation of what I've learned to make pillows, ottomans, headboards, drapes and slipcovers using Indigo and other natural dyes.

Most days, I make time for a bit of the things that energize me -  knitting, crocheting, weaving, cooking, gardening, reading or taking long wandering walks through the hills of my neighborhood.

Memories 

are plastic and flexible; constantly changing as new experiences re-inform perceptions of the past. Memories can be vivid, bright and cheerful; or faded and softened with time. One can consciously choose to work through difficult memories and reshape one's responses and the emotions surrounding them. Or, one can choose not to work through memories, consciously or not, thereby obscuring them. Forgetting is a normal process.  

My work explores memory and the subconscious and how one responds to the emotions that arise when memories do. I use the process of creating art to explore the personal and collective unconscious, specifically by using memory to uncover aspects of the subconscious. I try to coax images from my subconscious mind through the use of intuition and chance as I paint and draw; attempting to allow an impulse to arise and advance to my conscious mind. I then try to identify the emotion and transform it into an action, creating a visual expression of that emotion.

Responding to the many layers of memory, and the many small ideas that each layer is made up of, I use a constantly changing array of found objects mixed and applied with organic and inorganic adhesives, paints and varnishes. I then manipulate these images with Photoshop and Illustrator and translate them into images suitable for application onto a variety of surfaces.