I have been working as an oil painter in Minneapolis MN for seven years. I began painting first as a therapeutic practice after I had children, and became more committed when i realized that painting is the source of true happiness.
Throughout the years, I have explored various subject matter, but what remains constant in my work is my process. I like to begin a painting with only a loose plan in terms of subject matter and palette. I let my intuition guide me with each layer of paint. Many of my choices are poor ones, but i will often just leave it to dry and paint over it later. I work on 3-4 paintings at a time so I always have one that is dry and workable. The deleted layer that peeks through the new one is what makes the painting interesting in the end.
Dark beauty is a re-occuring theme throughout my work. Beauty is powerful, but it is also dramatic, bewildering, and cryptic. Through my subject matter and my painting process, I look to emphasize the shadows of beauty and the mysteries that it holds. I strive to capture the ambiguity within in an image, igniting its mystery with the use of layered paint, heavy shadows, and vertical bars.