I have always appreciated my time spent alone in nature.  I feel a sense of peace and belonging in quiet, solitary moments, walking or sitting outdoors.  Throughout my life, I have cherished the occasions when I can simply BE in nature and feel very welcome there, centred, and grounded.  

 

Painting also feels like an undemanding and comfortable place for me.  So, it is understandable that the subjects of my creative practice are my memories and daydreams of time spent in nature in the form of intimate painted landscapes.

 

In my acrylic paintings, I reflect on these moments, layering and embellishing my memories, real and imagined.  My paintings are a peaceful and grounded space for introspection and also for freedom of exploration and self-discovery.  An exaggerated colour palette translates as dreamy and nostalgic, and my automatic depictions of remembered, imagined, and observed imagery have an honest and authentic immediacy.   Layer upon layer of painted marks and glazes seek a depth of place in the landscapes I depict, wild and weedy, drifted with rhythmic grasses and dotted with wildflowers.  My investigation of formal relationships between marks, opacity, texture, and colour, deepen the layers of my paintings further until I feel that they reach a balanced maximalism.  Along with the ground-level perspective, this allows viewers to linger in their observations and enjoy their own moment of grounded introspection.