Artist Statement

Light is my primary subject.  It is the way we see in the world, it’s how all things grow on this earth, and it’s a metaphor for awareness.     

I paint permeable light, layered, giving way to depth in the landscape. In this way I’m working with form and formlessness.  I paint the essence of  light as it glances over the land. 

My paintings explore the idea of a clearing - a light filled area of spaciousness in the woods, or an open field that’s surrounded by rich growth.  In the middle of a full life what does an open, light space offer us?

Part of this inquiry relates to seasonal change.  In recording some of the earth’s transitions throughout the year I find internal comparisons – echoes within as I move through my own seasons, travelling between two landscapes, in Sweden and California.     

At the start of a piece I use oil paint like watercolor, applying a transparent wash.  On top of that I add more washes like light coming through the thinnest layers of colored tissue paper. I play with layering different spatial realities where deep space, middle ground and foreground don’t always match up.

I believe we live in light on the land and are held by the body of earth. These paintings express the healing power of that light and spaciousness.