This series aims to challenge perspectives in various ways. The portraits contained within each Location serve to convey the emotional, inner thoughts of that space. Combining architecture and portrait in this series adds dimensions of humanity, showing how people in various "Locations" are impacted by circumstance, including Covid-19.

I seek the challenge of portraying human emotion and thought in this series. In these street scenes I have found a love of solving the structural geometry and perfecting the ability to create a sense of place. The emotional attachment to home and familiar places is very important to me. I hope viewers of these paintings can feel a sense of recognition and belonging, even if the location is not one they have personally visited.

  Encouraged by my mother, painting and drawing have always been part of my life since I can remember. When I was twelve, I was awarded Student Artist of the Year in Ohio. I moved to California as an adult and continued to study art, but not full time. After leaving my Technology career, I made painting my full time profession.
   
I create both independent and commissioned pieces, and my current work is inspired by Richard Diebenkorn, Henri Matisse, Alice Neel, and John Singer Sargent. My work relies on color, form and pattern, in that order. I am best described as a colorist who blends reality and imagination; not an exact realist.  

I have work in acrylic, oil and watercolor. I especially enjoy painting in acrylics for the boldness of the palette options and ability to add texture to my paintings. Oil gives me the ability to add depth and fluency, as well as a range of color and texture effects. Watercolor was my main medium for a long time. The flow of watercolor offers freedom and “happy surprises” which add to the immediacy of those paintings. However, I mainly work now in acrylic and oil. Many of my paintings have been shown through the Santa Cruz Art League and other fine galleries and juried virtual exhibitions, especially during Covid. I am happy to display my work at Stems!