Artist's Statement

I feel that I create art because it is what I love to do and is one of my greatest passions in life. I find when I draw or paint I become relaxed and I'll spend hours working on a piece and not realize the time that has passed. I also hope to pass on this love and appreciation of art to others, which is why I hope to become an art instructor. I find it so disheartening that many of the art programs in todays education are being cut out of schools. But I still aspire to pass on my passion and love of art to others.

I feel that most of my artwork is based upon my emotions and events occuring in my life. I feel that art is a way to work through and resolve many issues within myself. Many of the materials that I use within my work are often choosen spontaneously. I find that I often plan out about half of the work and the other half becomes spontaneous. To me art is something that is hard to plan out completely. Many of the issues that I resolve within a piece comes from off the top of my head, which is where much of the collaging elements that I use come from.

My more current work is a series both done as paintings as well as drawings. The series that I have developed are influenced by prior work that includes my Justitia piece as well as an art journal that I began work on this past spring. Though the series does not have a title yet, I feel that this will be the most complete feeling work that I have done as that it is a body of work. Most of my prior work are projects that were intended for specific classes, with less to room for personal flare. The figures within in my series are all based from neoclassical statues. I feel that these figures display what was considered as classical beauty. I chose statues that gave the feeling of deep sorrow. Some may look at these statues and just see blank stares, but I see a story. Some of them are based upon actual characters such as Medusa, whose tall ends in tragedy. I felt that I wanted to express their stories and their sorrow in my work. I feel that each figure appears as if they have lost something be it love or something else. I feel that this series is somewhat based upon my own emotions in that I too will lose something... my husband who is scheduled to go on a six month deployment in January. I did not realize it at first but this series was somewhat of an outlet for me and about dealing with his departure. But I hope that others may connect with my work and feel the emotions expressed through it.