Artist's Statement...                                                              

 "Pastel is pure pigment, and I love to apply this chalky substance with my hands, working the color deep into the tooth of the support. No brushes come between me and the medium. I use only my fingers to shape and mold the forms on the page, my breath to blow away the excess particles. It is an intimate relationship between artist and artwork.
 
I use a complementary palette system with pastels or oils combining the complements (red & green, yellow & purple, or orange & blue) to create all the colors in a given work. This creates a sense of harmony in the composition. I work thoughtfully, allowing some areas to be sharply focused and some to be soft, leading the viewer along a narrative path. My paintings have often been described as 'beautifully rendered with a soft political edge.'

I often ally with progressive organizations for consciousness-raising efforts. I consider my work to be in the social realist tradition, and luminist landscape tradition.  I  use art as a tool for social change. I incorporate reusable materials in my work, and have built a “green”  studio and a green business. I bring artists out into the regional landscape to paint and preserve our region's beauty. 

My work focuses on the highest aspirations of humanity like the joy of the new mother, the hands caressing & encouraging the next generation, the farmers who lovingly save the seeds their ancestors grew, and the beauty and spiritual nature of women from all walks of life. I paint from an internationalist perspective, with a deep, abiding love for all the inhabitants, and the lush landscapes of this world. It is this love of life and optimistic hope that inspires my art.