Treasures from the Attic

In my pursuit of art, I try to use charcoal, pencil, brush and paints to reflect the quiet lights, subtle colors and playful shapes exhibited by seemingly mundane, everyday subjects. Striving for the emotional quality of every piece she creates, I hope that my work would be able to reach out and connect with their viewers, evoking the sense of wonder and awe of our everyday life that are so often taken as granted. My primary working method in drawing involves direct observation from life using traditional sight-size method and aims at achieving a strong impression of light and its cascading effect down the human figure or a particular still-life setup, while in the same time paying special attention to create strong and unified value patterns, specific organic half-tone shapes and incrementally softened edge quality from the center of focus outwards throughout the drawing.

My still life arrangements are set up in my north light studio and painted directly from life. I paint directly so that my relationship to the subject is heightened in the moment in order to pass on that perception and experience to the viewer resulting in a painting that looks like a painting and not a photograph. I often choose objects and arrangements to create the most aesthetically beautiful design and a feeling of abundance and intimacy. These arrangements are influenced by centuries of traditional still life painting from the Dutch Masters of the 1600s to French Academics of the 1900s. From there, I strive to create paintings combining an old master feel with rich color and painterly brushstrokes.