Welcome!

Please read my artist statement below to receive insight about my work and processes. Feel free to visit the gallery pages and take a closer look!

Through the unique properties of oil and cold wax I am able to render a surface that draws the viewer into the work and holds their gaze. This is different than a painting created using encaustic wax, which often reflects light off the veneer with a more reflective sheen. I purposefully create a completely matte surface which helps to keep the light bouncing within the composition. Any small change of the light is multiplied through subtle variations in color, tonality, and contrast. As a result, the overall experience of the work shifts.

In my studio practice, I am able to enter a sacred space and meditative flow that empties my preconceived notion of the physical world. This helps to create the feeling of another realm that invokes the pure essence of my surroundings, memories, and observations. I become a conduit between the natural world and the work. I experiment with an endless number of textural elements, including Venetian plaster, screens, stencils, sticks, sand, steel wool, coffee grounds, bubble wrap, and even dog toys.

As I work, the composition slowly emerges through each pass of the brayer, pull of the squeegee, scrape of the knife, and additional layers of wax and paint. The material serves as a filter of my most personal and intimate experiences. These explode into an array of rich histories and expansive narratives. The work itself is often atmospheric, sometimes overt. It is not a single moment. It is many moments captured in time, evoking feelings of the ethereal and spiritual world.