I use my artmaking as a way of exploring the personal, especially that which is often hidden. My inspirations stem from art themes of the broken, the abandoned, and the forgotten.

The materials used—timeless, worn cotton clothes that extend back to early industrial weaving and the supply and demand of the old plantations pre-dating the plastics era. The clothing is loaded with its own symbolic meaning. The cloth suggests a skin-like reference and with that all the vulnerability and toughness associated with a hide. I work with thread and cloth as I love the metaphors that they hold, such as mending, repairing, and connecting. A thread is a line with a function; a thread binds, wraps, it ties. A thread can be turned into an object that is soft and comforting, and it can be woven or wrapped into one offering structure and protection. Thread connects, binds, winds, warms, strengthens, ensnares, and unites.

I am also interested in materials that are old, used, and worn. The “Memory Threads” are made from thread and ephemeral materials—abandoned old photographs and clothing from days gone by. I am interested in the stories that materials hold and who has touched them before. I also love the fragility of the materials and how they must be handled with care. The “Memory Threads” are memory catchers, something to hold onto and look after like the significant memories you don’t want to lose. These remind me of fragments of memories that get lost. I believe that our memories are what make us individuals. I also enjoy how fragments of words can be seen in the “Memory Threads”. I am starting to understand more about my own art-making as time goes on, and that art-making is a ritual with transitory abilities.

I create art as a way of expressing the beauty that I find in the world around me. Whether I’m looking at a dramatic mountain vista or a humble city sidewalk, I believe that beauty can be found anywhere. As an artist, my job is to stay open to the experience of beauty and to seek it out wherever I happen to be.

For me, each painting that I take on is a labor of love. I paint scenes that strike some chord of beauty in my own heart, and I strive to convey that beauty on the canvas. If my work connects the viewer with a moment of simple truth, then I have done my job as an artist.

Painting for me is both tremendously rewarding and a never-ending challenge. No matter what milestones I reach as an artist, there will always be room for more growth. I am constantly pushing myself to develop my artistic technique and deepen my understanding of artistic principles. Each new scene offers an opportunity to either try something new or to improve on something I have done before.

As an artist, my journey is a continuous exploration of movement, intention, and the transformative power of creativity. My senior thesis in the 1980s, “Accumulations,” was based on a series of iterative movements through points in space. Fast forward to the 2020s, and this theme continues to drive my creative process. Grounded in the philosophy that art should evoke emotion and connection, my work embodies a deep desire to communicate through movement—both in the craft of painting and the experience of the viewer.

In 2025, I live by the guiding statement:
Prolific Shameless Love….Prolific Shameless Art

Prolific — May you be present and recognize abundance every day.
Shameless — May you let people see you, and what you care about.
Love — May you do what you love, say what you love, and share what you love. May you love others as they shamelessly share with you.

I make art as an act of presence, courage, and connection.

Prolific means I show up—again and again—to notice, to create, to trust that there is always more. More color, more truth, more beauty. The abundance isn’t in perfection; it’s in the practice.

Shameless means I let myself be seen. I reveal what matters to me, even when it’s messy, raw, or unresolved. I believe that when we create from what we love and share it honestly, we invite others to do the same.

Love is both the source and the offering. I make art to love the world better—to express joy, grief, wonder, and truth. To say: “This is what I care about. Do you feel it too?”

My work is an invitation:
Be prolific. Be shameless. Love out loud.

Today we feel our world is all shaken-up and it feels out of balance. Differences are emphasized and treated as immovable lines in the sand. We need to focus on Where Worlds Meet and reflect more on similarities vs. dissimilarities. Most of us struggle to be connected and to feel safe. In my piece “In This Together” a snow globe portrays humanity and visualizes our worlds as a meeting place because ultimately, we are all in this together. The subtle shadow at the bottom left encourages us to turn the page and reflect how we all can coexist together.

As an artist, I am a visual storyteller. Art is my voice where I create visual puzzles with purposeful ambiguity. The intent is for the viewer to become involved and react. A curator has described my artwork as smart and thoughtful and dense with information; gorgeous with color. Mysterious and challenging…puzzles for the viewer to solve.

For me, the juncture between education, imagination, and experience yearns to illustrate and inspire the action of kindness through my art.

The names & messages of these works are the meeting place for this writer/poet & painter self to collaborate and create.

Being partially color blind, my work tends to be bright and colorful. Color expresses the energy of movement. Movement is life. Kindness is life at its best.

I want to create something tangible out of the hidden and non-verbal places within me. I try to capture the elusiveness of the moment – using imagery & materials from my African, South Asian, and Middle Eastern travels. I also want to educate others about ancient, exotic, & ethereal cultures through complex, abstracted, & textural imagery, using unusual combinations of handmade fibers, papers, canvas, and 3D materials.

My expressions are not confined to recognizable imagery. I relish the freedom to respond intuitively to the evolving canvas, letting the creative process unfold organically. I try to create paintings that are provocative and attract closer inspection.

Sometimes, my internal reflections spark an idea. Other times, it’s the world around me. I prefer that everyone who sees my paintings discovers what resonates with them about my work. I have no intention of dictating how my art is interpreted.

I use a range of acrylic painting techniques to infuse my work with a compelling sense of color, depth, and movement. I start with a visual idea, then imagine the order in which the paint will be applied to the canvas. I use brushes, spatulas, and even my hands. I pour paint freely, splashing or dripping color onto the canvas.

I hope to create a dynamic and textured visual experience by making thick layers of paint in some areas and thin ones in others.

My work is the result of years of education, artistic contemplation, confidence, and experience. I majored in fine arts at Rhode Island College, but no one mentioned how difficult it would be to live comfortably by painting. I later returned to school to major in computer science as a way of supporting myself and my painting habit.

One of my most notable achievements is a collaboration with jazz saxophonist Sophie Faught. Every song in the “Three Muses” collection was composed for one of my paintings. I enjoy the unique convergence of artistic minds exploring how music and the visual arts intertwine.

I strive to produce images that are not only pleasant and interesting to view, but also convey a story or feeling. My goal is to invite someone to perceive something uniquely and perhaps create their own story around the image and how it makes them feel.

For me, painting begins with an impulse or a special moment that nature, the immediate environment, or the media often convey to me. Remarkable biographies also represent an inspiration for the creation of a portrait for me, ecological, political, or socially critical topics can also be the motive for a new abstract composition.

Based on my studies in social pedagogy and my several years of art education work in a rehabilitation clinic for women and children, another focus of my painting lies in the reflection of the role of women in social change and in the biographical work on the topic “courage. strength. resilience. – lifelines of extraordinary women”.

Through the art education work in this clinic, I was able to experience how abstract!!! painting in particular and the intensive study of inner images can give women and children their courage and self-confidence back. The unrestricted, unconditional creativity can lead to a more positive self-perception, to a strengthening of one’s own resources, and thus to an increase in one’s own resilience. This important experience and the sustained engagement with various stylistic devices and artists have decisively shaped my own (artistic) path.

Painting is an attempt to create something new and a medium that people can use to communicate and get in touch with each other. The resulting image is then completely freely available to the viewer’s perceptions. These do not have to be congruent with my message as an artist, my actual intention in the picture may even remain hidden from the viewer, instead new interpretations emerge. The creative process represents an opportunity to connect external impulses with my own inner perceptions and images and to express them through a wide variety of creative means and techniques.