Friend of the Artist Volume 13

My work has been featured in Volume 13 of Friend of the Artist! Three paintings from my “Precipice” series are displayed among the works of 53 artists from 8 different countries. The selection was juried by Alice Bonnot, Marco Galvan, Camilla Moresi, and the FOA staff.

“Friend of the Artist is a platform dedicated to showcasing the work of extremely talented emerging artists from around the world. Each volume is unique and features a diversity of aesthetics and ideas.”

Discoveries in Limitation

While my recent paintings are much more minimal than I am used to, they have been some of the most difficult paintings for me to make. Many of my paintings have multitudes of layers, and mistakes can easily be hidden or painted over. The recent paintings are unforgiving; in part because of the stark white backgrounds, and that each brushstroke cannot be erased or undone. Every brushstroke is carefully considered so as to keep balance and flow within the painting as a whole. I often practice the brushstroke I want to make many, many times in the air in front of my easel before actually letting the brush touch the paper. Happy accidents often occur, and if I make a mistake, I have to incorporate it and balance the rest of the painting around it. These works on paper have been a good challenge for me in learning to limit myself down to the bare essentials, and in knowing when to stop.

Untitled (Canyon Path), Oil on paper, 30” x 22”

Untitled (Shady Canyon), Oil on paper, 22” x 30”

Untitled (Trees and Field on a Foggy Morning), Oil on paper, 30” x 22”

Painting Process

Tell us a little about yourself and what it is that you create.

“I’ve always had a strong awareness and concern for the environment and the importance of protecting it. I also hold an immense sense of wonder for the natural world. These two things have created in me a deep reverence for nature and understanding of all life as sacred. I create oil paintings, watercolors, and drawings that are influenced by these beliefs. I sometimes mix gravel, sand, dirt, wax, or fibers into my oil paint to create sculptural moments in the paintings and incorporate tangible elements of the landscape.”

Why do you create? What inspires your work?

“My work has always been inspired by my connection to nature and to my spirituality. Painting is a way for me to process my experiences, and sometimes to hold memories close for a little longer. I paint the things I love, the things I’m moved by, the things I fear, and the things I desire. My work is about my physical and perceivable connection with our planet, and simultaneously and paradoxically, my ethereal experiences that remain intangible. ”

What’s your process like? Tell us a little about what you do.

“I record my experiences in nature in sketchbooks, as photographs, and as collected objects which I bring back into my studio. While I am painting, I am often enmeshed in a landscape of my own creation, surrounded by branches, plants, rocks, and other objects that inspire me or help me recall the particular feelings from the time I discovered them. I work directly from or with these natural objects, sketches, and photographs to create paintings that feel as if they were gleaned from the landscape. ”