Artist Statement
“A self-taught artist, I have been dabbling for many years, with a body of work that reminds me of a journal or diary, with a heavy reliance on experimentation and serendipity. I rarely use paint brushes, preferring to drip, tip, splatter and scrape. As for why I paint? The joy of discovery. I like to see what the paint and designs are saying, if anything, what the paint will do, how it pools or runs, how the colors interact, how it will dry. I like to live with the pieces, spread them out in my house, and simply observe them until they tell me they are done, or that they want or need something more, or that they need to be painted over! In real life I am an English Professor at a community college, nearing retirement!”
About Black and White
Under the working title of “Aftermath,” the pieces in this loosely connected group were created over the last couple of years as a response to my feelings about climate change. The sub-themes include pollution of the air, of rivers and oceans, oil spills, desertification, deforestation, and other forms of assault on the natural world. Using primarily black and white paint, my techniques imitate the forces of nature in many respects, relying largely on gravity, dripping or “raining” paint from one canvas to another, tipping canvases to emulate the flow of water, scraping and scratching to emulate the forces of wind and erosion. I rarely use paint brushes, so there’s not the typical feeling of a human hand, or creator, at work, nor much evidence of humanity within the works themselves. Despite the dark theme, I believe the resiliency of nature shines through--her tendency to create order no matter the forces working against her, to project strength, to adapt.
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Group Show Awards
St. Louis Artist’s Guild, “Beyond Belief,” 2023 FIRST PLACE!
St. Louis Artists Guild, “Visions of Form and Space,” 2023 Hon. Mention
Art St. Louis, “Attention to Detail” 2019, Award of Excellence
St. Louis Artist’s Guild, “An Idea of Order” 2019 Third Place
MMFAS ECC Show, 2017, Second Place
MMFAS “Seascapes” Show, 2018, Honorable Mention
MMFAS “Abstraction” 2019, Second Place
MMFAS “Open Theme” 2020, Honorable Mention
MMFAS “ECC Annual Show,” 2022 First Place (Acrylic)
Other Group Shows
Webster Arts “Green” 2018
Soulard Art Gallery, “Everything Blue II” 2018
Foundry Art Centre, “Colorless” 2018
Art St. Louis, “XXXIV, The Exhibition” 2018
St. Louis Artist’s Guild, “The Essence of Form” 2018
St. Louis Artist’s Guild, “Ann Metzger National Biennial Exhibition” 2019
St. Louis Artist’s Guild, “Endangered” 2019
Art St. Louis, “Heaven and Earth” 2020
Foundry Art Centre, “Context III” 2020
Art St. Louis, “Storytellers” 2020
St. Louis Artists’ Guild, “Ann Maritz Members Exhibition” 2020
MMFAS, “Annual Member Show” 2020
Art St. Louis “XXXVI, The Exhibition” 2020
Art St. Louis “Honor Awards 2021” (Six pieces included)
St. Louis Artists’ Guild, “Abstracted Abstraction” 2021
St. Louis Artists’ Guild, “Members Exhibition” 2021
St. Charles Community College, “UNREAL: Multimedia Art Exhibit” 2021
St. Louis Artists’ Guild, “Visions of the American Landscape” 2022
Art St. Louis, “(all the) FEELS,” 2022
St. Louis Artists’ Guild, “Visions of Form and Space” 2023
Member of Mid-Missouri Fine Arts Society and St. Louis Artists’ Guild