Artist Statement

My work grows from a lifelong practice that began with drawing and moved into oil paint when I was ten. I build texture in layers of pigment, collage, and reflective materials. Those layers represent the complexity of life, especially in the healing process.

 

After more than thirty years teaching art, I paint with a practiced eye for composition, movement, shape, and balance, so each piece draws the eye from a distance. Metallic paint, glitter, and reflective surfaces catch the light, revealing more color and shimmer in more light.

 

I move between abstraction and recognizable imagery. Figures, horses, butterflies, hearts, and rainbows emerge and dissolve in fields of color. Hearts speak to love as essential to healing, rainbows represent the promises of God, and butterflies symbolize transformation. Their patterns and repetition integrated with layers of texture and color, reflect the cycles we learn to recognize and the courage it takes to change them.

 

Butterflies and horses remain central to Beauty From Ashes™ Ministries, the nonprofit I founded in 2005, which I specialize in trauma-informed equine and art-assisted therapy.

 

Since breaking my neck, I've worked alongside the horses on the farm, whose land, animals, and light are both subject and inspiration. My creations record resilience and the quiet beauty that rises from ashes.