Visual Artist ~ Yoga Artist ~ Abstract Artist
I've been painting for over 20 years now and I learn the best from artist friends and peers that experiment with the same creative outlets as I do. Art workshops and classes are my favourite hobby and I’ve learned a lot of my practice through these experiences. The rest is done in my favourite place. It's a messy studio in Spruce Grove, Alberta where I like to get thoughts out on canvas or paper or whatever else catches my interest in the moment.
My approach to painting is the same as my approach on life; Experimental, flawed and always changing.
When I was very young I wanted to be the best at everything. High standards meant that I had really accomplished something special. At the time, that was all I wanted.
For me, perfection is not something to strive for anymore. Mistakes are wildly interesting and allow me to explore possibilities that I would never have been open to if I applied the limitations of doing what is expected.
Sometimes ugly art is the best art. Ugly art has a raw honesty that is fascinating and inspiring. Ugly art is equally confident of its aesthetically pleasing parts and its undesirable parts. I dream that one day I feel this way too.
My vision of perfection is different now and I expect it will change again. Improvement is more about exploration and focusing on the things that align with who I am as a person rather than who I think I should be. I still want to improve but now I use mistakes to get me there.
My art takes on that same form. A blank canvas needs texture and history before it can even begin to take on form of a subject. I build my paintings up with layers of acrylic and, in it’s beginning stages, rarely wash my brush between colours. I go back and forth between pencil line drawings, paint and black ink until my figure takes on a life of its own. Often I have an idea of what I who I want this person to be when I start, but by the finishing stages it has always grown past my initial plan.
Yoga poses started as a way to study the figure. A way to explore the body moves and the strength and flexibility a person can build for themselves by practicing, failing and then trying another way. Repeating this cycle. Part of this journey is about commitment and part of it is about knowing when to do it another way. The difficultly is knowing the difference.
Artwork can be found in many private and public collections and can be viewed by appointment.