about my art

---

I live and paint in North Carolina. Art is a second career for me — I was a graphic designer for many years before. My love for the coast, nature, the sky and clouds inspires my paintings. I paint in oils and believe being a successful artist requires exploring, experimenting and evolving.

Unspoiled, desolate beaches were the norm before cars, high-rise bridges, condos and homes packed the ocean-sides with people. When I paint I feel I'm recreating scenes from long ago — rare and endangered landscapes with nothing man-made imposing on the view. Only through my imagination are most of my paintings possible. I hope I'll always find inspiration in the world we have now. 

The landscape is not just what I focus on with my paintings. The sky and clouds can be dominant in my compositions and I challenge myself to depict them realistically — in a unique way. I get a serenity from looking up at the sky and I’m inspired to express this in my art. With artistic license, it’s fun to paint something both ethereal and ephemeral!

I hope my scenes of inlet waters winding to the ocean or those with large clouds on the horizon are a calming influence on the viewer. I have a love for barrier islands— but not just for their sandy beaches. To me, relaxing and soothing to view are their tidal, salt marshes separating the islands from the mainland. I find them especially inspiring in mid-summer, when the marsh grass turns brilliant yellow-green. I feature this chartreuse-like color in many of my marsh paintings, combined with varying colors in the sky and water. 

I hope my art connects with people and evokes fond memories of a family beach vacation. Families have traditions around their annual week at the beach — they rent the same cottage the same summer week at the same coastal community for years and years. Some say my art takes them back to special times and places — a reminder of being carefree and relaxed.

I love to paint the wetlands, where the water rises and falls with the tides. I pay homage to the fragile yet resilient marsh ecosystem of the barrier islands. The marsh provides habitat for fish and birds, it buffers the mainland from storm surges, filters downstream pollution and is a place of inspiring beauty.