Artist's Statement

I am descended from generations of North Carolina farmers and I reflect those strong southern roots in my work. My father and grandfather rode a tractor over our acres, and in my own way, I continue that tradition as a contemporary painter—working that same land with my eyes and my brush. During most of my adult life I have watched the loss of open spaces, the harvesting of old growth forests and the construction of thousands of new houses—the “final harvest”. Raised a naturalist I couldn’t escape painting an elegy for the land as I remember it and as it can still be found—in hidden pockets of the forests. My life falls on the cusp of change; born into a world of post war farming, I now live and work in the urban, technological south. My work attempts to seize the look and feel of this place before it is forever changed, and to perhaps cause the viewer to weigh the value of those changes.

As much as I record what is around me, I am also portraying my own spirit in these paintings. The images stand in for states of mind and heart that occasionally transcend place. I find myself inventing color, seeing auras around trees, and patterns that don’t exist except inside me, but show up exploded on the surface of a creekbed or the leaves on the forest floor.

My process has evolved from several long explorations of various media. I currently work in both acrylic and oil on canvas or board, in every possible scale from intimate to large and inescapable. The work is informed by the needlework traditions of southern women since North Carolina was settled, and the Pattern and Decoration movement of the 70’s. Emotionally, the work is connected to Earth Art. It bows to the traditions of abstraction, while also striving to clearly represent the depth of my experience of nature . Most of all, I hope it communicates both a meditation and a prayer for this lovely place on earth.