Artist Statement

Jagged or water-worn rocks, moss-covered earth, gleaming birch trees, and chameleon rivers of West Virginia are my subjects.  Nature has always been an important component in my work.  I thrive on working from life.

The landscapes are created en plein aire - painted rapidly on location with a variety of utensils.  The act of painting is central to the work.  My process involves a combination of media and approach.  Most of the works are begun with a thin acrylic layer or gesture done with a large brush and then completed with a palette knife in oil.  I smear, scrape, and thickly layer the oil paint, until the essence of the landscape is found.

Painting in this direct manner is a means to emphasize the importance of experience and reflects a desire to capture the fluidity and power of nature.  The works are not images of sweeping vistas, but the views found exploring the interior of West Virginia.  They reveal its true character and a feeling of place through semi abstraction.  Retained is a relative simplicity of form along with an economy of strokes that are utilized to construct a strong image.  

Selected Exhibitions 

Emerging Artists, David L. Dickirson Gallery, Beckley, WV 2010

Emerging Artists of West Virginia, West Virginia State Museum, Charleston, WV 2009 (Best of Show)

Recent Works James Brooks Gallery, Fairmont, WV 2006*

BA Interdisciplinary Degree - Studio Art/French - Fairmont State University, Fairmont, WV 2006 (Cumme Laude)

 Allied Artists of WV

*indicates solo show