Artist Statement

Animal Inspiration

Looking for beauty, feeling, surprise, and presence.

I learn by looking and watching.   I like to paint something that catches my eye or imagination.  I get ideas from what I see including landforms, landmarks. animals, people and scenes and I get ideas from what I would like to see.  Color  and fabric combinations as well as functional use are inspiration for making things.  I make quilts,  felt animals, and concrete sculpture with emphasis on dogs.   I also enjoy making oversized concrete pears.  I am currently immersing in art while pursuing a BFA from CSU Pueblo.  I have recently taken ceramics and printmaking.  

My aim is to create meaningful pieces that bring recognition to the viewer.  I hope I can pick a landmark that may be overlooked but may be in the back of the viewers mind and is recognized.  I like to capture a moment that displays a reminiscent animal trait or position.  I also want to express a feeling: peace, unconditional love, inner beauty, loyalty, trust, tenderness, sense of fun, or whimsey.  

I am Inspired by the lives and art of  Rosa Bonheur, Romare Bearden, Kaffe Fasset and Katharine Lane Weems.  

Profile

Experience

I enjoyed drawing and painting as a child.  
My mother taught me how to sew as a young child and I have made quilts for over 30 years.  I purchased a long-arm quilting machine and quilted professionally while living in Tillamook, Oregon.  I feel quilting has enhanced my color appreciation and design.  
I enrolled in art classes at TBCC taught by Christine Harrison.

I was invited to have a solo show (called Animal Magnetism) at Tillamook Pioneer Museum in 2008.  It included drawings, water colors, acrylic paintings, quilts and concrete animals.  Shortly after the show a community group participating with the Ford Family Foundation chose Christine Harrison and me as the artists for a public art project making 3 life-sized cows made out of a cement and organic material mixture.   The project took 2 years.  Christine and I worked with the Tillamook high school welding teacher (Max Sherman) and students to make the rebar armature.    Community members helped with the concrete.  Art students from the 3 high schools painted the cows.  One is a reclining cow that is a bench.  It is near the courthouse in  Tillamook.  The other two cows are standing: one is in front of a grange and one is next to a preschool.