I have had a drive to create since I was a child. As a teen I was introduced to Alfred Van Loen, a New York sculptor and painter, who encouraged me to follow my passion and draw daily. Painters who have influenced my work the most are Maxfield Parrish and Georgia O’Keeffe.
My process:
For my pastel work I prefer Wallis sanded pastel paper and Art Spectrum Colourfix boards for surfaces. Both papers provide the tooth I need to apply many layers of pastel. My method is conventional – I work from hard to soft pastels in layers. I start each painting with pastel pencils, carefully drawing my shapes.
I then block in my colors and shapes with Nupastel and work my way up in layers using progressively softer pastels. I use only my fingers for blending.
For my surreal pieces I start with a raw idea and fully create it before it’s translated onto paper. These paintings are often inspired by a dream, a song, or sometimes a single word. I frequently need reference photos and I either take them myself or purchase them. From there I frequently work out my ‘sketch’ on the computer before I paint it, and perfect it until it matches the idea in my head. Then I bring it to the drawing board.
Although I paint a variety of subjects my favorite subjects are the images that come to me through inspiration which frequently include people and a touch of the surreal.
Affiliations:
Connecticut Pastel Society
Blackstone Valley Art Association
Book Cover:
Paradise Road by Kirk Nesset
Other Sites
Play on Words Art – My husband Gary and I collaborated on this blog. He draws a rebus and I paint my interpretation.
Prints at RedBubble – A selection of some of my paintings which can be ordered as prints. I’ve ordered one myself and the quality is great.
Dogs in Goggles – Prints and originals of you guessed it, dogs in goggles. Laminated prints which are ready to hang.
Pastel Pup – Oder portraits of your favorite pet and view samples.
Plus 1 Graphics - I do web design also
Daily Painters - A group of Daily Painters which I joined in 2006
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