Encaustic and mixed media art handmade in Alaska
I grew up in some of the most remote parts of Alaska for many years without television or distraction, which gave plenty of time for exploring the woods and spending hours on the beach. I took my first art class when I was a little girl from a nice neighbor who would give me “homework” which I treasured and took very seriously. It stuck with me and I have been drawing or painting ever since. At the time it gave me something to do and now I go back there again and again when I am painting, trying to capture a little of what that life was like along with emotions and feelings from my own life and experiences along the way. I've lived in Alaska for most of my life, most in southeast, some in Anchorage and the past ten years in Spokane, Wa. I recently happily moved back to Ketchikan, I could never shake missing my ocean and now--the inspiration is everywhere :)
As a result of an ongoing health issue, I have struggled with memory loss for most of my adult life. I started painting again as a way to process grief over the loss of who I was and in so doing found a renewed passion for my art. Even though most of the memories are gone, there are fragments or snapshots of memory that I can recall using photos or notes. I am inspired by memory and what it means to a person and their family. Other inspirations are the sea, hundred year old cedar trees, expressionist painters, wild things and places, tiny fishing villages of all kinds, beautiful poetry, old story books, the sea.
My work is evolving but so far conveys emotion above all --along with some of the haunting beauty of where I come from. I try to reflect a little of the sadness and soul of the sea in each piece.
I use a variety of materials and processes, right now most are encaustic and oil on wood panels but some are acrylic and sumi ink with charcoal on stretched canvas and a few are on paper. I use finest professional quality materials, Pacific Northwest refined beeswax, Sennelier and R& F oil paints and pastels, Golden and Liquitex acrylic paints; heavyweight premium watercolor papers and canvases. I have spent thousands of hours painting and I choose my paints carefully to bring you a special piece with life and emotion and vibrant color that will stay. I typically start three to five pieces at a time just to get the ideas down( before I forget them:) and then I can go back and piece together what the feeling was at that moment .
I am drawn to mixed media and expressionist painting, there is something about the life in the lines that conveys thoughts and emotions in a way that words cannot.
"...if I could say it in words, I wouldn't need to paint..." -Edward Hopper
As a result of an ongoing health issue, I have struggled with memory loss for most of my adult life. I started painting again as a way to process grief over the loss of who I was and in so doing found a renewed passion for my art. Even though most of the memories are gone, there are fragments or snapshots of memory that I can recall using photos or notes. I am inspired by memory and what it means to a person and their family. Other inspirations are the sea, hundred year old cedar trees, expressionist painters, wild things and places, tiny fishing villages of all kinds, beautiful poetry, old story books, the sea.
My work is evolving but so far conveys emotion above all --along with some of the haunting beauty of where I come from. I try to reflect a little of the sadness and soul of the sea in each piece.
I use a variety of materials and processes, right now most are encaustic and oil on wood panels but some are acrylic and sumi ink with charcoal on stretched canvas and a few are on paper. I use finest professional quality materials, Pacific Northwest refined beeswax, Sennelier and R& F oil paints and pastels, Golden and Liquitex acrylic paints; heavyweight premium watercolor papers and canvases. I have spent thousands of hours painting and I choose my paints carefully to bring you a special piece with life and emotion and vibrant color that will stay. I typically start three to five pieces at a time just to get the ideas down( before I forget them:) and then I can go back and piece together what the feeling was at that moment .
I am drawn to mixed media and expressionist painting, there is something about the life in the lines that conveys thoughts and emotions in a way that words cannot.
"...if I could say it in words, I wouldn't need to paint..." -Edward Hopper