Every day, art opens a world of beauty to me. Roaming through a museum or gallery, looking at the lake from my living room, or sitting at the easel with a paintbrush in my hand, the affirmation that I am doing what I love fills my senses. During the three years when nine of my family and extended family members (as well as my three cats) died, and I was unable to concentrate long enough to read or write, I turned to painting. At the University of Washington’s Certificate Program and Ilona Rittler’s School of Fine Arts, through the encouragement of Barbara Fugate and my dear friend Alden Mason, and the friendships from MIVAL, I painted my way out of the darkness I carried inside of me.
During that time, I worked to capture the beauty of life on canvas, first through portraits, then through landscapes. I looked for “life” in everyone and in everywhere that I went, and I used bright colors to express the joy of the continual existence I witnessed around me. Now, a new body of work called “WANDERLUST” chronicles my recent road trips, hikes and flights.
