How long have you been creating?

I was born into an incredibly creative family so some of it must've come from my gene pool. Creativity manifests itself in many ways. For the first 40 or so years of my life I think I used my creativity as a survival mechanism to get through a very troubled upbringing and the results this created later as I tried to navigate a life that had been built upon serious flaws. I can definitely say that being able to create art now has been a real blessing to me. I had never really painted before, but I had done lots of art quilts and fine needle tapestries, but painting wasn't something I could have made time for in my life up until recently. About 5 years ago I was living in a small studio apartment in Seattle, recently out of treatment for drugs and alcohol (which had been and off and on again problem in my life) and I was at that place of simply not knowing what to do with all that time on my hands. I couldn't go back to the old ways and I totally hated 12 Step meetings. I don't think for one second addiction can never be cured, there is always healing and the best way to achieve that is by learning to love one’s Self and that cannot be done by constantly announcing one’s flaws. I began to get seriously depressed. There was also the matter of going back to work and I did not want to go back to my counseling work. It was going to be awhile before I’d be able to counsel others. I had no sense of joy and I felt a certain emptiness. I left the house one morning to get coffee and Utrecht’s (an art supply store) was having a grand opening right across the street from my apartment. I felt this undeniable push that steered me into the store and I picked up a few colored pencils and a pad of paper with my last $8. I brought them home and immediately started drawing and things have just blossomed from there. I knew from the moment I placed pencil against paper that this was what I should have been doing all along. It’s amazing when you know what you want to do. Doors open.

How would you describe your work?

Bright, hopeful, silly, sophomoric, emotional, colorful, energetic, childish....even unevolved. Most of the time when I sit down to paint I get out a ton of different paints and let the colors sing to me. I happen to like very simple images with little perspective and lots of bright colors. I believe that the subconscious responds to simple shapes and I often get email from collectors who have an emotional, visceral response to my work and they often don't know why...at least this is what Vie been told over and over again by people who buy my art. Most of the time I think my art has a certain sense of humor. I am not even close to what I know I'm probably capable of creating, but all in due time. I don't want to get to that place where I am striving for perfection and in that process become too self-critical. I have a history of being too hard on myself and I am trying to just let the art flow. I can always tell when someone is trying too hard in a painting...it looks false. In the words of the great Gertrude Stein, “there’s no there there.”

What are you motivations for creating?

Creating art is like breathing to me now...it doesnt take much motivation. I generally have 6 or 7 ideas going on at any one time. But I am also very forgetful so I keep a visual journal where I do rough sketches and jot down ideas. If I didnt I would simply forget and that drives me nuts! I feel as if this ability to create were an incredible gift, given to me as a lifeline at a time when my spirit was so bereft and longing, I try to honor its call whenever the feeling to create arises. It means being ready. I buy the best art supplies, always keeping my studio stocked with new things...always on the look out for things to create with and doing things like visiting museums and reading art magazines. I have been amassing a great collection of imported papers and am starting to use collage elements in my work. There is nothing more annoying than wanting to create and not having the supplies on hand. I also keep little pieces of paper and pictures out of magazines taped to places all over my house because they pique my creativity. I have to have my stuff in front of me. I’d love to be organized and have my supplies all stacked up in neat little storage boxes, but if it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind for me. I think I’d probably be impossible to live with!!

Have you seen any art that has moved you recently?

Recently I have been totally blown away by Alfredo Arreguin who is a Mexican artist living in Seattle. He’s this great big bear of a guy and he creates the most incredible art called pattern painting. His art is so complicated, yet so simple at the same time. Its hard to get a feel for his art in books or on the web, but once you see one in person its an unforgettable visual experience. There is an artist here at EBSQ who I think does the most unusual and wonderful techniques with watercolors and ink pens...her name is Lori Rase Hall and the first time I saw her art I literally got up and danced I found her art so wonderful. I adore Katherine Dunn who has done a lot of advertising work, but her art is so unlike the usual advertising art. Her work seems so free and communicates a certain purity I find so attractive. But lately Ive also been interested in the work of Helen Frankenthaler so I plan on doing more research on her work. (Ive a growing interest in Art History which began many years ago, but right now there is only so much time available!)

What do you find visually stimulating right now?

I am very visually oriented so I can be inspired by the most simple things. I just went to the supermarket and spent an hour in the fresh produce aisle because I was so knocked out by the different colors and shapes. Especially Mexican produce with all the different kinds of peppers! I also like foggy days and think colors look much better when there’s a light mist of rain. My grandchildren often motivate me to create art. These are two very incredible, clever little boys that have transformed my whole way of being...that have reminded me just how precious life is and how important it is to not take anything for granted. I have discovered the wonderful world of being a grandparent. I highly recommend it.

What's the last book you read?

I used to read all the time, like several novels a week. The dishes would pile up, housework go undone because I couldnt put the book down! (I’ll think of any excuse not to do housework) Ever since I started painting I havent felt that motivated to read. At least not long novels. But Ive joined a books on digital download club sort of thing called Audible.com and I listen to books off my computer. I just got the DaVinci Code. I loved listening to The History of God by Karen Armstrong because, like many others, I am deeply concerned about the conflicts arising from spiritual beliefs. I dont think God would like it much. I think we’ve turned God into a tribal leader who is being forced to look after all the warring factions and it’s terribly sad. I also just bought The Quotable Artist by Peggy Hadden and another called Arteffects byJean Drysdale Green. Arteffects is an incredible book with all these unusual and fabulous ways to create different effects with all kinds of art mediums...oils, acrylics, inks etc. I can’t wait to try them. Right now I live in a teeny studio and I have no space to really work, but I will be in the market to buy a house hopefully by December. I have been really paying attention to the way I work because I want to create a studio that will be like an extension of my work process.

Your work seems to be highly infused with warm colour and a sense of hope--tell us a little about what drives your vision?

Bright colors are very comforting to me. I am easily blown away with simply laying colors next to one another when I am painting. You know, the hope thing is not something I consciously tried to create. I know I spent a great deal of my life in fear and without a sense of hope but as I began to clear away all the psychic clutter in my life I began to see all the good things I had done that had been overlooked or minimized. I have always had a strong desire to help others but had always been a private, sensitive person with a rich internal life. I had worked years as a counselor but I was running on a deficit because I wasnt giving back to myself. Through my art I can take the things I have learned to cultivate...like a sense of hope and compassion and return those attributes to the world in general. It’s funny because I love painting bright colors, but I dont like the intensity of bright sunny days and totally prefer my days overcast or slightly misty. I love being alone, I wear mostly black and I live a very simple life. After living a life of many years of high drama, simplicity suits me now.

What would you like your fellow EBSQ artists and our collectors to know about you and/or your work?

Sellling my art on the internet has opened up a whole new career for me and many others here as well, Im sure. There are definitely more artists than galleries and up until now there were few places where we could get our art seen. Its still amazing to me that we can create something today and have it up for sale tonight. And because of the diversity of art available at EBSQ there is always something for everybody.

I am looking forward to many more all nighters with the paint brush flying across a crisp clean canvas. I am now beginning to sell to galleries and to private collectors by word of mouth so I must be doing something right!