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Artist’s Statement:
I've been working with this style since I graduated from Humboldt State University in 2001. As I left that community of artists, a lot of changes happened to my creative process. I left school with a lot more questions then answers. Eventually, I lost the drive to stay focused on my previous goals. Over time, things came together however. As I started to look at the world around me, inspiration came from different places then I was used to finding it.
For my day job, I began working with children. Their art inspired me, with their use of bright colors and bold shapes. The illustrated books I was reading to them also opened my eyes to many bold and playful visions of what art can be.
At the same time, I found that I had a strong interest in geometry. I spent many weekends combing through the local boutiques with my sketchbook, looking for new and interesting uses of line and shape. I was looking at a lot of fabric patterns and mosaics, as well as traditional crafts like: Ukrainian egg dying, ceramics, and tapestries.
All of these things that I was looking at struck deep chords within me. There is something universal about the exercise of combining simple linear shapes and color. Over the course of history, so many people have participated in this process of decorating their surroundings with geometric patterns.
I thought that this impulse was larger then humanity. As I looked around I saw that all of creation was deeply engrained in these geometric rhythms. Everywhere we look there are examples of the same basic geometric shapes, like symmetry, radial patterns, or repetition of shapes. We can look at cellular structure, DNA, pinecones, crop circles, or the shapes of galaxies and we will find that there is order to the universe.
Now, I'm working towards expressing my feeling of connection to life, to nature, and to these universal rhythms of life. By picking out the geometry in a shell, or a flower I can use it as the basis for my own intuitive journey.
I've been using geometry as a language for expressing places in the heart. Each painting starts with a resonance in my heart. Perhaps this is the way a poets might approach their task. The canvas then evolves through trying many different approaches and changes. Many layers of paint are applied until the piece develops a life of it's own.
Usually bright colors are used, allowing each painting to become filled up with light. I want the painting to feel warm and alive. On a cold gray day I would like my picture to look like it is giving off light into the room.
It is now five years since I left school and started thinking about these issues, and I am finding that I am just beginning to scrape the top of what can be explored. 06-01-06
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