The Artist
I grew up in Eugene, OR. A child whose roots trace back to the wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, I have an intimate relationship with this great state I call home. That relationship is ultimately the very root of my main source of inspiration - place. More specifically the unseen magic we discover in sacred places. Through my artwork I am seeking to translates subtle moments and landscapes into swirling abstraction, blending saturated, opaque colors with translucent washes to evoke moment as an emotional experience. My work is often created plain air style using a variety of materials, including acrylic, ink, charcoal, pencil, oil pastel, chalk and coffee, in order to react to the spirit of the location at the moment.
I was 25 when I went back to college to study art and really I had no idea what I was doing. I studied Sculpture at the University of Oregon because I felt an incredible need to be creative bubbling up inside of me. I haven't always been artistic and therefor went for a medium that gave me the most freedom and at the time joy. I was a serious student who spent my time in college producing large plaster installations that reflected my own personal life experiences. However after graduation I found myself working in retail, living in a tiny apartment and no closer to identifying as an artist than when I started college. I picked up painting to fill the creative need and over the next ten years taught myself to paint.
Painting gave me a voice I did not know I desperately needed. It gave me a new way to express my emotions and in the end it gave me life.
I work with passion. Not only in my painting but in the other projects I take on. I am currently President of Portland Open Studios which is an arts organization that represents 100+ artists in the Portland Metro area. I also own a small art gallery in Astoria OR that works to share the artwork of under represented artists. My work is an ever evolving relationship where I show up daily in some hope that I will find
Currently you can purchase any available work through my gallery Cambium Gallery. We are located in downtown Astoria and are open Thursday-Saturday 12-5
