I've always found joy in art. But I also grew up learning the value of being resourceful, which was just fuel for creativity. Instead of purchasing something I liked, I was challenged to make it, which is still a principle I live by today. Creating something with your own hands is one of my greatest delights.
Mixed Media: an honest approach
Though I've explored various media, I keep returning to what seems most true. Mixed media provides me a way to tell a story. My work has many layers, which are all compositions of decisions as I work with what I've been given - much like life. Driving me to the creative process is a desire to think through and develop ideas I can’t articulate in words. I find I’m going to wrestle with it before I embrace it, hate it before I appreciate it, be offended by it before I find it beautiful. The process pulls me back to truth every time. I begin by laying a foundation, then adding what doesn’t make sense, but is available. Then as I work I discover what to cover up, learn what to expose, and finally struggle to find the line of what has always been true. Mixed media makes sense to me. It’s real. Every piece embodies a sojourn through which God has led me. I’m continually learning to hold things loosely and trust there is purpose in the mess - something this introverted perfectionist fights against. My work gives a window to that surrender.
Design: a marriage between my right and left brain
Though I studied art in college, I avoided classes on graphic design. I thought replacing my pen with a mouse was forfeiting the creative process. Yet I had interest in helping individuals and small businesses express their ideas visually, which eventually led back to a medium that proved to be a whole new world of expression. Graphic design ignited a different kind of creativity. The digital "rules" of making line, shape, and form was like an equation to be solved that would break some of the boundaries within visual communication: a marriage between artistic expression and rule-based line. Now, after 20 years of graphic design, I still get weak in the knees over type, icons, and layouts.
Mixed Media: an honest approach
Though I've explored various media, I keep returning to what seems most true. Mixed media provides me a way to tell a story. My work has many layers, which are all compositions of decisions as I work with what I've been given - much like life. Driving me to the creative process is a desire to think through and develop ideas I can’t articulate in words. I find I’m going to wrestle with it before I embrace it, hate it before I appreciate it, be offended by it before I find it beautiful. The process pulls me back to truth every time. I begin by laying a foundation, then adding what doesn’t make sense, but is available. Then as I work I discover what to cover up, learn what to expose, and finally struggle to find the line of what has always been true. Mixed media makes sense to me. It’s real. Every piece embodies a sojourn through which God has led me. I’m continually learning to hold things loosely and trust there is purpose in the mess - something this introverted perfectionist fights against. My work gives a window to that surrender.
Design: a marriage between my right and left brain
Though I studied art in college, I avoided classes on graphic design. I thought replacing my pen with a mouse was forfeiting the creative process. Yet I had interest in helping individuals and small businesses express their ideas visually, which eventually led back to a medium that proved to be a whole new world of expression. Graphic design ignited a different kind of creativity. The digital "rules" of making line, shape, and form was like an equation to be solved that would break some of the boundaries within visual communication: a marriage between artistic expression and rule-based line. Now, after 20 years of graphic design, I still get weak in the knees over type, icons, and layouts.