ARTIST STATEMENT

I have taught creative process, martial arts, pysanke making, design fundamentals and painting techniques for over 30 years. My focus is on creating a friendly, supportive atmosphere in which you can develop your skills and your confidence. I have studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and hold a Master of Architecture degree. I teach through community centers and artists groups in Canada and the United States.

 

I have also been an instructor and guest critic at the Boston Architectural Center and the Massachusetts College of Art. Making art enables me to feel into, and wonder at, the dualities of our nature and our world. Hints of landscape show up in my highly abstracted work, though I am primarily interested in conveying the beauty, power and mystery behind the things we see and experience in everyday life.

 

On the surface, organic mark making, texture, and geometric shapes in my current work evoke the landscape around me, where Canadian prairie begins to shift to boreal forest.

 

My art expresses the dualities of land and sky, man-made grid imposed upon and interrupted by natural organic landforms, and extremes of intensely colored summer fertility versus subtly tinted winter hiatus. At the same time, the work evokes personal dualities such as body and spirit, life and death, and intellect in play with intuition. I immerse myself in these ideas then work spontaneously, focused on authentic action and a curiosity to find out what will happen. It is a joyful way to create: freedom supported by my discerning eye and willingness to be open rather than control.