My path to becoming a professional artist is not a traditional one.

It began with a career as a clinical psychologist, lasting thirty years.  Attending graduate school, working full time and raising a family never afforded me much opportunity to paint.  I changed occupations in 2003, since then painting has been my primary career.

I took art classes as a child and young adult exploring several media.  I have collected art and read art books for years, primarily filling my home with original representational pieces.  Since finding my own voice as an artist, however, I am drawn to working as an expressionist painter, mostly with oils and on a large scale.  My first works were 48” x 60” canvases and I still produce a majority of this size.

For me, painting is the flip side of what I did in my first career.  Having spent years as a psychologist, listening to people speaking about their feelings, I am now able to express my own through oil on canvas.

I begin each painting by covering the white canvas with many coats of thinned acrylic.  For large pieces, I get down on the ground and physically “commune” with the work.  I love the undercoatings of wash-like color that acrylic can produce and often find inspiration from this background.  Next, I turn to oil paints, working with large brushes, palette knives, rags, rollers and stencils.  I am most comfortable with the viscosity and mutability of oils, changing the effect of the paint many times before I am satisfied.

I notice the mood of the work and the emotions it raises in me and spend many hours, studying the painting before beginning the next step.  Color, texture and intensity comprise the language in which I paint; form seldom governs my work. Generally, the picture in my mind of the final painting changes many times before the painting is finished.  

I have begun showing my work in public venues and I accept commissions. For commissioned pieces, I discuss what patrons are looking for in terms of color and mood, since these are my strengths as an artist.  Perhaps being a psychologist has benefitted my art, also.