I’ve dealt with a great deal of adversity over the years and even now, at times I feel as though I exist in a strange state somewhere between life and death. For me, everything changed in an instant, yet my life continues. Today, I find myself living an entirely new existence in what seems like in an entirely new universe. Encouraged to paint by a dear friend and mentor who has always admired my creative abilities, this new reality has become the backdrop for my art. My first painting, called “Soaring”, is a close-up of a figure swimming in water with her back to the viewer, taken entirely out of context, and painted in such a way that we really don’t know where she’s going or how she’s getting there. She could be flying; she could be dying. And this is what my art as well as my existence is about–whether to fly or die. I choose to fly.

My portrait sketches represent my lighter, humorous, more whimsical and spontaneous side. I create them mainly at night after a long day of painting, having left the studio and relaxing around the house. They just make me laugh, and the reason for their being is no more complicated than that.