When I am silent, I fall into the place where everything is music. — Rumi
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The story of my art begins and ends with music. I began painting after losing my voice — the primary tool I had used for more than thirty years to create, to connect, and to cry out. Desperate to find a new channel for all I was feeling, I began experimenting with brushes and ink and was surprised how familiar it felt. But it had something new to offer that I didn’t even realize I’d been missing. The meditative aspect of painting quieted and opened me in profound ways, so I continued with it long after my song returned. I am living Rumi’s words:

“When I am silent, I fall into the place where everything is music”. — Rumi

My works are non-objective, abstract expressions of feeling. My reference points are internal, spiritual. Instead of vocal dynamics, I use contrast, texture, and color. Instead of a piano, canvas. I am inspired by the “lyrics” of scripture, poetry, and great thinkers and use them as a stepping off point for most of my work. In my contemporary calligraphy pieces, words and color share the stage. Through my art I am trying to lift the veil and give voice to my spirit’s journey from despair to hope, guilt to redemption, doubt to belief. And above all, I pray everything I create will point to the Author of Life that relentlessly pursues and inspires me with His own love song.

I love working with acrylics, watercolor, and ink — the fast-drying, staining, and often unpredictable mediums that don't allow me to hide. Using them is a little like performing live. My larger paintings on canvas have a sculptural quality and are often created with a single palette knife and impasto technique, using layer after layer of thick acrylics until I can both feel and see the resolution. In my works on paper, thin washes of watercolor and ink reveal while opaque layers conceal — like reluctant confessions that are unplanned and honest. And like a song, the unfolding of each piece unfolds something in me.

Most recently, I have discovered a passion for abstract figure painting. Since the human spirit is what I study and true intimacy is what I seek, it was only a matter of time before I explored speaking through gesture. I feel like I’ve finally found a way to show what it feels like to be broken and to break open.
Education:

2012 - 2015

Studied under Timothy Botts, Peter Thornton, Victoria Pittman, and Laura Di Piazza, Society of Scribes, at the School of Visual Arts, NY

2008 - 2011

Studied under Anne Binder, Studio Arts, Mishawaka, IN

1991 - 1993
Post-graduate studies in theology, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, IN


Exhibitions

2016


Saratoga Arts’ Annual Members’ Show, The Arts Center Gallery at Saratoga Arts, Saratoga Springs, NY (forthcoming)

!0 x 10 Exhibition,
The Arts Center Gallery at Saratoga Arts, Saratoga Springs, NY

Art on Lark,
selected artist at Albany Center Gallery satellite exhibit

Little Gems,
Woodstock Artists Association and Museum, Woodstock, NY

Fence Show,
Arts Center of the Capital Region, Troy, NY

Far and Wide Regional Exhibition
, Woodstock Artists Association and Museum, Woodstock, NY, Juror Jason Rosenfeld

2015

Nervosity, Tawasentha Park, Guilderland, NY, chosen for event's site-specific installation

2010

Words for Peace, Rochester, NY

Benchmarks Celebration of Life
, Elkhart, IN

2009

Backstage He(Art) Contemporary Art Exhibit,
Backstage Grille, South Bend, IN

Student Show
, Studio Art Classes, Mishawaka, IN


Memberships:

Current

Society of Scribes, New York, NY
Arts Center of the Capital Region, Troy, NY
Saratoga Arts, Saratoga Springs, NY

2008 - 2011

Studio Arts, Mishawaka, IN


Collections:
Corporate collection — Forest River Inc, Elkhart, Indiana
Works held in private collections in Indiana, Florida, and New York