My artwork is personal. Each piece is about a specific experience, and the roses in them, which I distress in some way (burning, sewing, pinning down, etc.) and then photograph, show how life has affected me. The statue images and the photos of me when I was young represent feelings and memories. The black bird in each piece represents trouble, difficulty. What I’m trying to show is that we (I and most people) go through a lot in life—disappointment, loss, regret, aging etc.—and all of that shapes us. But, if they don’t destroy us, life’s trials can make us more interesting, more empathetic, and altered yet still beautiful.
My process takes many steps. I paint with oils and sketch with ink, charcoal, and pencil. Those paintings and sketches are scanned, and I combine them with my photography. Then I print with pigment-based ink on my high end printer. The prints are either matted or mounted on cradled wood panels, which I’ve sanded, stained, and varnished.
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