More than a painting of a dog, this is a painting of a friend, it’s a painting of peace, a painting of my vision of the world the way it should be.
M. Acklam wrote: “We give dogs the time we can spare, the food we can spare, and the love we can spare, and in return they give us their uninhibited all. Truly the best deal man ever made”. I say we got an even better deal than that. A dog is a vehicle for the expression of unconditional love.
I have witnessed a grumpy man transform from complaining and pounding his fists in anger to smiling and rolling on the grass while hugging my dog Beverly. I have seen a sad looking woman sparkle as she reaches down to touch a mutt. These were visibly sad or angry people who instantly transformed into loving beings by the presence of a dog. The dog did not change them. The dog allowed them to change.
Like the examples above, my paintings of animals are intended to evoke positive emotions that can heal the soul and invite the viewer into a state of harmony.
T e c h s p e x
My paintings are layers of conte crayon, watercolor, acrylic, and pastel on paper and canvas. The animals are drawn from reference photographs with features changed to enhance certain aspects of the subject. The background color choice is based on my personal emotional response to hue and how that effects the overall meaning of the painting.
Displayed individually or in groups, the art is intended to be spiritual symbols and to bring inspiring color into the space where it is hanging. The patron is involved in the process by selecting the groupings that are most meaningful to them.
A u t o b i o
I was born in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1968, and was raised in San Francisco, California.
During the 1980’s I developed my painting skills under the guidance of my teachers Morgan O’Hara (Time Studies) and Stan Grosse (a student of Diebenkorn). I attended UC Santa Cruz majoring in fine art and physics before transferring to UC Berkeley, graduating Magna Cum Laude in architecture.
In 1991, I set out with my husband for Sun Valley, Idaho, fulfilling my desire to have animals in my life when I ran the Sun Valley Horsemen Center. It was in those years that animals became the principal subjects of my paintings as a vehicle for expressing my connection and relationship with the animals in my care.
A resident of both the Wood River Valley and Maui, I live with my husband Kevin, and continue to explore the human-animal bond through my art.
