Artist Statement

I am a visual artist currently working in acrylics and oil pastels. I paint still life and landscapes. In particular, I am interested in family history, so the subject of my work often centers around family heirlooms and the farmland that my family has cultivated for generations. My work seeks to take those heirlooms that often get tucked away in an attic and give them renewed pride of place on the canvas. As a child, I would spend hours searching through closets and drawers of the old farmhouse where my father and grandfather grew up, fostering an interest in the history and memories associated with the objects I found there. The time it takes to see the shapes, assess value relationships, and gauge the color of the light in order to convey all of this through paint on the canvas feels like a way to honor the people, now passed on, for whom these objects were once significant.