Artist Statement

I am a self taught artist and I utilize the act of making art to better understand myself and others. Painting and spending time in my studio is most likely the healthiest and most productive way I know how to nurture my personal well being.

With that said, my paintings commonly feature women, or animals and can be symbolic of issues I am currently working out on my own. Scenes or people from my childhood often appear which gives me great comfort. It gives me a sense of satisfaction when viewers can relate to my work .

My art is quite literally a view into my life. It is a way for me to relate to others in a finished painting, and a way to better understand myself during the art making process. The process includes the culmination of my journey through this life, and all the challenges and joys that come with it. Spending time in the studio is equivalent to what some might get out of years on their therapist’s couch. Sometimes facing and exploring a painful thought and expressing it on canvas in the form of a figure is a way for me to sit beside a feeling and examine it and make peace with it.

When I am not working on my own paintings, I stay very busy working on behalf of other artists at Higher Art Gallery . On slow days, you might even find me painting there at my easel.

Most of my work is in oil and cold wax , and can be found at Higher Art Gallery in Traverse City, Michigan, as well as Twisted Fish Gallery and The District Gallery.