Collage is a technique of composing a work of art by pasting on a single surface various materials not normally associated with one another, such as paper, magazine pages, and fabric. I like the destructive part of finding and ripping paper and then making it whole again by combining it with other tidbits to create something new.

My most recent encaustic pieces involve found metal that has been embedded into the wax. I find the metal around the city, in parking lots, in vacant areas, and in places I travel to. I prefer rusty, bent, imperfect objects that tell a story. In my designs there are often one or two special pieces of metal that are the muse for that particular artwork. For me, the objects evoke a feeling that inspires the composition. It makes each piece entirely one of a kind. Some are whimsical, while others are more sculptural because of the dimensional texture that the metal imparts.

Cold wax medium is a mixture of wax in a solvent which makes it a semi-solid paste that requires no heat to fuse it to the previous layer. I mix cold wax with oil paint and apply it to my panel with a pallet knife or a print squeegee. I have mixed in jewelry beads, sand, textured paper, and string. I have fun adding poetry, stencils, and carving in lines to finish. It’s pure play time!

Watercolor is my first love. I like watching the pigment build, layer after layer. It moves as it dries and I love how some colors granulate. I've been on three watercolor painting trips with different instructors (Maine and New Mexico with Lester Lee; France with Ruth Armitage) and they always motivate my creativity in new and addictive ways. Just when I think I’ve learned all I can learn, a new twist is presented to me.