I started painting a few years ago after a long period of doing other things. Right now, I like working with fairly traditional mediums such as watercolour, oils, and various drawing mediums, but I like to experiment with mixed media techniques as well. In terms of subjects, I choose images of my own or found images that I alter. It’s important that there is an atmospheric quality to the image or a quality of light that leaves me feeling blissed out, dazzled, relaxed, or peaceful. Besides exploring light, mood, and atmosphere, I’m also interested in street fashion and drag culture. Trying out different formal juxtapositions with regards to mediums or techniques is an inevitable process for me. I like to work arbitrarily at times, obsessively at times, and other times, freer and more intuitively. At this point, my creative voice is in an adolescent phase and it pleases me to simply make images that are beautiful to me, even decorative. There are many ‘streams’ I enter to create and they are in constant flux. Fluidity, adaptability, and flow are important qualities in my work and life. I’m interested in nature and the fantasy world it conceals, the night and what happens in the darkness, as well as the feminine, her beauty, power, and mystery.
I studied fine art at Grant McEwan University (Edmonton, AB) in the early 90’s as well as the University of Victoria (Victoria, BC) in the mid-90’s and then took some random courses at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, AB) in the early 2000’s. I’ve shown and sold some of my work in a few group shows in Edmonton as well as at a gallery in Penticton, BC that has since closed. Very recently, I’ve been predominantly in an incubation phase art-wise, spending a lot of time alone, painting, and loving it. Making art again after many years is difficult but necessary for my spirit. I now live halfway between Naramata and Penticton, B.C. in the beautiful South Okanagan Valley with my partner and love of my life.
Stuff I think about and am interested in: art fundamentals, light, colour, soft focus, dichotomies, the arbitrary, the intentional, beauty, mood, darkness, magic, the dream life at night, nature, plants, animals, street fashion, drag culture, Vipassana meditation, electronic music, folk music, altered mind states, comedy, dance, psychology, neuroscience and the brain, mindfulness, compassion, understanding and empathy, sustainability, youth, health, hedonism, luxury, love-lust relationships, gender and sexual identity, human sexuality, aging, illness, death, body modification, the unconscious/subconscious, the mind and it’s patterns, obsessions, compulsions, discomfort, pleasure…. These subjects may or may not be obviously represented in my work. Regardless, these topics of interest greatly influence my mind and thoughts as I create, consciously or unconsciously.