I love lines. Without them there is no definition. With lines, definition is constant and ever changing. I explore my subjects with different colors and stripes to give a well-known subject a less known look. I found that color is a wonderful thing to explore as well, it’s like another whole way of describing something. I do what I do because I see endless possibilities in exploring the world around me with color and stripes. Initially, I enjoyed drawing one band of color next to another and seeing how they interacted with one another. Eventually, this led to creating geometric designs with groupings of colors that I want to see together.
It started long ago with a 64 box of crayons but after a while I would add mediums like colored pencil, markers and gouache in order to gain more colors. Eventually, someone suggested I move to oil painting because I could mix whatever color I was looking for, so I did. When creating art, I always find it stirring on how my perception changes as the painting emerges. I am drawn to my style of art because I have always found it fascinating how when looking at things close up it could be anything but it can change your perception of the painting the further out you get. Colors start shifting, creating different colors and lines start merging with other lines. In the past, the biggest consideration for painting something was what I wanted to do with stripes and color. What surfaces did I want to explore with my style. I found flowers and water a natural playground for working with colors and stripes, and a good study when figuring out at what direction, width, and color would give the best outcome. Painting dogs in this way, one gets away from over sentimental portraits of pets but perhaps exploring the innermost design elements of a particular canine.
It’s all about how everything fits together and how to define something with stripes. Looking close up at a Van Gogh painting, he had such a diverse pallet and somehow it all fits together.
Though I had done quite a few striped drawings in high school, I didn’t realize it would become my passion until a few years later. Stripes alone are just stripes but put them together in a strategic way and they become something new.
Comment by Curator Kristen Woodward:
These dog portraits are quite remarkable, as they capture an affectionate tone without relying on sentimentality or romanticized depictions for visual gratification. The striking pattern imparts intricate cross contouring, making the heads beautiful sculptural objects as well as portrayals of responsive, sentient beings. I’m also struck by the apparent smoothness of the surface. At first glance I assumed they were digitally manipulated rather than painted. The blended gradation of color and value activate the negative space without interrupting the movement of linear movement in and around the head. While the series offers nuanced shifts in frontal poses, I prefer the directness of Chaco 2 and Linus. Rather than a casual directness associated with pet photos, they evoke an unwavering and intense communication
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1995 with a BFA.
Dark Sky’s bar in Flagstaff AZ.