As a landscape painter, I am always on the lookout for potential subject matter. Sometimes a Michigan landscape will be so lovely that I’m forced to pull the car over and take photos. Other times, I’ll go searching along the rivers, creeks, and lakes around my home, or along Lake Michigan’s shore- lines, for a scene that has especially good light and shadow. In addition to the kind of scene we all find dramatic or lovely, rural beauty has a poignancy and pull… so much of the countryside I grew up with is disappearing. Painting gives me the opportunity to really look, and soak it in. My paintings often begin with a small pastel on site. Because light and shadows change so fast, these have to be small. Working outside (“en plein aire”) has it’s challenges– wind, insects, setting the umbrella for shade on the work surface, and did I mention wind? But these small pieces are often my favorites. They have a fresh response to the scene and an energy that comes from working quickly. Photos are then taken for references in the studio for larger paintings.
About pastels– is this a drawing or a painting media? It is dry, but colorful, and able to be built up in layers, allowing richness of color and texture. Pastels are the grown-up versions of our childhood ‘chalk’. Pure pigment is mixed with a colorless binder to form sticks of color ranging from thin and hard to buttery soft. I use either a 400 grit textured paper, or apply a pastel ground to an archival substrate for a more textured surface.
I’m happiest with a landscape when it evokes the spirit of the place– that inescapable response we have to nature’s spirit. As the observer views the painting, the cycle from nature, to artist, to observer, and back to nature, is completed.
I joined WSG Gallery in 2006– and it has been a wonderful place to show my work ever since. The 15 fellow WSG members are talented, supportive, terrific folks. We are committed to bringing excellent local art to Ann Arbor.
Literally, the biggest and most amazing opportunity was having a painting reproduced on billboards for “Art in the Sky” on the I-94 interstate between Brighton and Milan, Michigan.
I had a fulfilling career teaching art at Stevenson and Bentley High Schools in Livonia; Albion College gave me my BA; and Eastern Michigan University my MA in Art Education.
Solo Exhibits:
Kerrytown Concert House and Turner Center in Ann Arbor
Lake Street Center Gallery in Glen Arbor
Livonia Arts Commission’s Civic Center Library
WSG Gallery
Corporate Collections:
Ann Arbor:
Glacier Hill
St. Joseph Mercy Hospital
The University of Michigan School of Nursing
The University of Michigan Hospital
Lansing:
Art on the House (in the State Capitol)
The Michigan Education Association
Grand Rapids:
Mercy Hospital