Spending time in nature strongly affects me. I love pausing to sit still for a while, to listen to the water the air, and the animals. Even still water has its own sounds. I love observing trees that appear to be doing something or interacting with their environment or with other trees.
Recently, I travelled and camped for several weeks in Canada and Alaska. The expanses of sparsely-settled areas filled with both the sounds and the quiet of nature, the small black spruce trees, the bodies of water, and the moods of the weather have imbedded themselves indelibly within me.
While making the paintings, I am reminded of the time spent enjoying those areas, so they are like souvenirs of special places.
About five years ago, pastels tackled me and haven’t let me up yet! They mark my transition from charcoal to works in color. Most of my paintings are made with “soft” pastels on sanded papers. “Soft” means they are made from powdered, high-quality, pure pigments that are formed into dry sticks (without the use of oils). The sanded papers are high-quality (archival-quality) papers coated with sand or marble dust in order to hold multiple layers of pastel onto the surface. The making of a pastel painting is a dusty process!
