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| Husband's Peace after Afghanistan Watercolor and chalk Pastel |
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| Son's Loving toy fish Watercolor and Chalk Pastel
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| Mom's Guardian Watercolor and Chalk Pastel |
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| Dad's Joy of Fishing Watercolor and Chalk Pastel |
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| My Sand Dollar Dreams Watercolor and Chalk Pastel |
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| Sand Dollar-Mixed Media Watercolor and Fabric |
All of my life since I can remember I’ve loved art. My father and grandmother inspired me with their drawings and my mother with her creative spirit. Other inspiration comes from my love of life, color, and music. I enjoy painting beautiful landscapes, seascapes, floral’s, nature, still life's, and portraits. I work in watercolor, oil, acrylic, charcoal pencil, and pastels. The artworks I choose to create give me feelings of happiness, peace, and love. These emotions are the overall theme I aim to convey in my work.
At this time in my life, I’m busy raising two young children, and coming up on the pivotal age of 39. I’m exploring more deeply the subject of identity and meaning, with the ability to have fun and appreciate life where it takes me.
In this collection of works I chose original photographs as reference, and then painted them in detailed watercolor, adding pastel chalk as a final step to enhance the color and artistic feel of each piece using a multi-media approach.
I chose the theme of “Hands” holding special memento’s in order to document this time in my life and those I love around me. My collection includes hands of my son, age 3, daughter, age 6, husband, mother, father, brother, and my own hands; all holding something of meaning. It has been interesting discovering what and why each piece defines the individual.
In the piece entitled “Peace after Afghanistan” it shows my husband’s outstretched hand holding a tiny cute hermit crab. He and I remember each night of our honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta, watching the hundreds of crabs migrate along the beach at sunset; however this picture actually has a dual meaning. My husband is in the Nevada Air National Guard and landed on the remote island of Diego Garcia as a refueling base on his way home after a deployment in Afghanistan. This painting symbolizes for him a renewed sense of peace, taking in the beauty of the island, and the reality of soon coming back home after being in a war zone.
When I look at this collection of “Hands” it brings floods of memories and happiness in knowing these are my family and that we all have a thread of similarity that runs through us.