Artist Statement

I express the joy of everyday living in my art. My palette is bright and my renderings simple. As a native of the South, my work is influenced by the raw and unpretentious quality of Folk Art. It appeals to me, both physically and spiritually, for the truth it reveals about one's self, and its accessibility to all people of every walk of life.

I have always been a people watcher. I take notice of people in their everyday lives. I notice the guy pumping gas across from me at the filling station, the festival goer devouring their funnel cake, or the lady buying greens at the local farmer's market.

I study their gestures and take notice of the details that make them stand out from another, but most importantly I realize they are people just like me-with thoughts, emotions, and worries. I like to guess what people are thinking, and, in doing so, connect to other individuals and to the greater world around me. I paint to make connections. I paint people brightly to show their vibrancy and the life that they are. It is so easy to ignore people in our everyday routine, but each person deserves to be noticed and appreciated for who they are. Contemporary New York painter and sculptor Red Grooms does this brilliantly in his work. He is able to capture people in a way that brings light to them and his work has been a great inspiration to me.

Like Red Grooms, I choose to paint perhaps the person you missed seeing as you rushed to work this morning or the person you chose to ignore because making eye contact would have led to a conversation you didn't have time for. My paintings allow the viewer to look, to gawk, to laugh, to smile, to acknowledge their existence in this world. They are painted with a rawness that comes from my love of Folk Art. They are not portraits, but captured personalities.

As a mother of three young children I pass a lot of time in the kitchen, and I've spent hours staring out the window daydreaming as birds fly from the woods to my feeder and as chaos unfolds in my house. These birds, observers themselves, remind me of who I am and who I am to become. They allow me to do my own flying, away from the duties of motherhood, if only momentarily.

This is how the bird paintings began. The birds give me peace as they perform their amazing acrobatics, with their colorful feathers and quirky gestures. They also symbolize a great deal for me; I often yearn for days when I can fly away, visit new lands, ride the wind… to feel freedom. But, for now, I also have a nest to go home to with young to feed, nurture, and teach to fly. Birds have a different perspective on life- one I believe God and all the angels in Heaven have- looking down on the world from above, but also able to come from above to live among us. The birds were a natural subject for me to paint after painting humans for so long because of how they are a part of our everyday landscape as well. The birds are another part that we are so often so busy to see. I am combining figures and birds together in my work now to bridge the two. Even in my paintings that incorporate the two, some human figures recognize the birds' existence in the paintings, while others are oblivious. I also believe that the birds are around us each day just as God is- it is up to us to recognize His/their existence.

My art is a way for me to share my love for the everyday with the common person. I paint to share the joy I see around me in the people I share the world with. It is my hope to bring more smiles, more acceptance, and more unpretentious art into this world so that we can all journey forward and find our wings.