Although I am still learning about my artist style a theme, I keep revisiting is nostalgia and/or melancholy. My past has influenced my art greatly in several ways.

 First being travel. I grew up traveling between two homes due to my parents’ divorce. My mother lives in Texas and my father in Wyoming. This gave me an appreciation for the history that is the West and the frontier. Artist during this time documented the beauty of their world and I wish to do the same. I find this to be seen in landscapes that I photograph and/or then turn into paintings.

Secondly the mundane. Visitations I had with my father were largely spent in emotional and occasionally physical isolation. My connection to the world was through nature or objects. I became fascinated with the quiet moments that I think everyone can relate too - glasses sitting on a table, a toy left on the floor discarded, or a flower with dew on it. Those little moments remind me I am human and alive. Those are moments I treasure.

For me nostalgia hits when you’ve forgotten what they day to day was like, but one tiny aspect can remind you either a smell or an image. Like déjà vu I want to bring those memories back because they are the most peaceful. We all could use a little peace in our lives.

My peace is granted with the mediums I have chosen. With ceramics the work with the clay can take hours and the whole process from hand building to the glaze fire takes weeks. This long process means the result is a mystery and of course I can plan but it will never be exactly like the plan.  Watercolor is another long process particularly because I like detail and realism. Watercolor is soft and reminds me most of a memory. Then there are my acrylic paintings, I lengthen my process by doing a pointillism style, this gives the paintings an unfocused feel to them.