As one of my favorite writers has observed, we live on a tilt-a-whirl in the middle of a carnival.
We're all stuck to the surface of a rotating, watery blue ball, revolving around a gigantic star. We're just a tiny part of a system which spins in a galaxy, which is itself spinning through an immeasurable universe. It's a wonder all of us aren't dizzy all the time!
These glorious, involuntary, annual treks around the sun provide constant inspiration to me.
WHERE I WORK
Born in Albuquerque, and nomadic since the age of six, I currently live and work in Gallup, NM, on the southern edge of the Navajo Nation, surrounded by the beauty of the southwest's high desert landscape.
EARLY INFLUENCES
Like most people, artists or not, my first experiences in art were with crayons and finger paint. But even those early attempts were guided by the loving hand of my mother, herself a professional artist.
She was the first influence on my work, and the impact of her lessons remains. Though she worked primarily in oils, it was in her work that I first saw paper combined with another medium to create texture.
PAPER AS PAINTING
During twenty-five years of homeschooling four children K-12, it sat in the back of my mind: could I one day develop the idea of paper as painting? Not as traditional collage or assemblage, but using the color and texture of handmade papers to recreate the effect of paint.
This has been my focus since I began. By some standards I got a late start, but I believe that in the providence of God, I started my art career exactly when I was supposed to. However, it does make the focus necessary.
MY ARTISTIC VISION
Like most artists, I choose subjects that are meaningful to me or impress me with their intensity and depth of color, or that communicate simple truth, goodness, and beauty.
I hope my work touches more than your eye and draws you into a shared moment, memory, or emotion beyond my limited expression of the subject.