I'm a full-time artist, living in a forest, in Alberta, Canada. It's been a lifetime's journey to get here. I've always known that art is at my very core, but it took a lot of decisions and a lot of doing and some happenstance to be able to call myself "full-time Artist."
My journey included making decisions about the type of art I do. Alberta Nature plays a key role in my art. I discovered old school pen and ink drawing in high school, watercolour in my 30s, and clay in my 50s, although it would be safe to say that dabbling in clay in my youth and having a potter-Mom and an artistic Dad factored in too.
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Sometimes, I work in pen and ink alone. I like the striking balance between black and white and enjoy creating a "wow' factor with such a simple pallet. I marvel at how my sometimes overactive brain can, with a lot of "lines, lines, lines", stay the course on such intricate pieces.
Sometimes I work in watercolour alone. I like watercolour for its flowing, impressionistic (and therefore arguably forgiving) nature. I do like to push it a little further to give bolder, more intense colours than traditional watercolours. And I use it in ways that are perhaps less conventional, choosing to paint intuitively, rather than from the "rules".
Sometimes I work in both watercolour and ink together. These pieces will often take me a year to think through, deciding which parts of the image will get colour and which won't, and what roles each will play. Will the ink act as the darks in an image? Or will they be set apart in a section of black and white? Will I use ink to make a pattern that acts as a juxtaposition to the softer, more subtle watercolour? How will I express the light with watercolour? How will I balance the two so that the piece will feel unified? Having visualized those details, I can then execute with confidence (and some trepidation too!)
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My more recent medium is clay. It has taken over my life! I'm enjoying the tactileness of this medium. It's challenging, rewarding (despite the failure rate and long-wait-'til-it's-done times), and allows me to take all of my artistic goals into the 3D realm. I like to reflect work I do with patterns in Nature on the functional pieces (so many artsy mugs!) and artistic pottery I make.
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As a Permaculture Designer, I use Nature's patterns to create an ecological existence for humans. In my art, I like to express those patterns to create a story. It's the discovery of art-as-story, and those patterns that still excite me. These are at the hub of my inspiration. It is intentional that I live in a forest, which is full of animal and plant life that gives me great joy and artistic subject matter.​
FAQ answers: Yes, I work out of my home studio. Yes, I have a kiln and wheel. Yes, I still paint and draw but mostly in Spring and early Summer toward a show I'm involved in. Do I instruct? No, although I have done so for close to 30 years, I don’t have time to anymore.