The world around us is a wonder. So often we pass our stressful days without stopping to notice how curious and amazing a gift our world is.Yet everyday we make conscious and unconscious decisions that shape our lives and our world. When I travel or go out exploring I carry my camera and document my walks with quick un-composed shots of anything that catches my eye. Later, I often find themes within images I've taken. They rest and percolate until a few rise to the surface asking to be painted. My subjects choose me. Usually, they are environmentally driven. I paint without choice, a devout and willing convert. My influences are many and varied. Each subject calls for it's own mentors.
In my past career as a textile conservator, my struggle was against time and nature to preserve materials beyond their natural life. As a gardener, I attempt to make order out of the chaos of vegetative growth. When traveling I find myself pointing my camera’s lens to weathering and deteriorating structures. In my painting I try to understand, order and stabilize these constant struggles. I unify through color, stabilize through composition and crystallize these little battles taking place all around us. Through my paintings I can acknowledge the audacity of man and the demands we place on our environment and find hope that the resilience of earth, with our efforts, will be as tenacious as the smallest weed that can crack and eventually bring down the mightiest wall.