With my latest body of work, I continue to pay homage to the wonders of nature through the examination of the individual elements. By isolating the details, deconstructing, and reassembling both visually and physically, I am able to communicate my version of nature in all its glory.  Rather than trying to recreate something that is already so perfect, I seek to draw attention to the glorious details that are often overlooked.

 

In Pastoral & Beyond I hope to capture these details in all of their masses – a wildflower meadow, the edge of a white birch grove, a whirl of butterflies, the entangled branches of a newly flowering tree.  Nature’s open spaces assault our visual senses with texture, color, depth, line, obscurity and detail.  In hopes of communicating this wonderful visual assault, I have attempted to push my paper ‘canvas’ beyond what it typically houses, layering a mix of materials to visually achieve these landscapes of nature while still maintaining the details. 

 

As with all my works on paper, the aesthetic outcome is as important to me as is the process through which I achieve the outcome.  Aesthetically, I hope my works are pleasing but somewhat challenging, drawing the observer in to decipher what is obvious and what is obscure.  Through my process of layering, I continue to discover new ways to combine actual elements from nature with a combination of materials  -- some obvious partnerships, and some not so obvious – challenging the paper beneath as well as my own familiarity with the materials.