I create art that is both playful and makes you want to look further into the piece. If not playful, I want it to move you to some emotion, be it joy, pain, sorrow, fear, whimsy, or love. I want to keep my hands busy and my mind at rest. This kind of work achieves that. I want to put more beauty into the world than I have taken from it.

My work ranges from small 5” x 7” pieces to much larger 36” x 48” pieces with most of them resting in the 8” x 10” range. I generally start with crisp white mixed media paper then layer on top of that. Each piece is done simply when I think it is done. Sometimes that is after just pen work and sometimes after many, many layers of tissue and paint. I also do ripped-paper portraits, using magazines and mailers to find my colors. I often draw the eyes first and then build from there. I learned to sew many years ago. Since my daughter was born I have happily picked it up again, making dresses and play clothes for her and her cousins. I found a website (www.spoonflower.com) that will print any pattern you create. I order fabric printed with my art and turn it into infinity scarves, dresses, and more. It is neat to see something two dimensional become three dimensional and take on an entirely new meaning.

I also teach a new kind of paint-and-sip class at my job, a local brewery (find classes here). I call it “An Evening of Abstract Expressionism: Painting with Zero F@cks”. Each guest gets two beers and the chance to paint two 11” x 14” canvases that they will take home. But first we collectively paint one 36” x 48” canvas. We empty out the brewery warehouse and cover everything in tarps because this gets messy! Guests come back with a beer and receive a cup of paint. We work through different painting styles and brushes (not limited to traditional art supplies but also toothbrushes, straws, strings, etc.). Each person takes a turn to test out the medium on the huge canvas. When we have worked through all of the methods at our disposal, the end product is amazing. We keep the big painting at the brewery, displayed for every guest to see their hard work. After that, the painters are encouraged to gather what instruments and colors they like before they settle in to paint their own pieces. I go around the room and offer encouragement and lend a hand. It is two hours of play time, the kind that most adults are rarely encouraged to do anymore. Folks love it. This is one of the best parts of my job, bringing creativity out in other adults.

Yellow And Detail.jpg — Some words…

I am 37 years old, the outspoken Tasting Room Manager of a popular brewery. I own a small home in Connecticut where I raise my amazing daughter Vida. Though we divorced, her father and I remain friends and happily co-parent. We had a really rough beginning with Vida, and I sunk into depression hurried along by two years of serious sleep deprivation. As rough as it has been, the experience of becoming a mother has been equally rewarding. I am a good mom, a pit bull when I need to be, and a hard worker.
A few hours a day, a few days a week, I sit in my craft room and do things. I cut, glue, paste, rip, rearrange, paint, draw, sew, pin, and gather. I claim “mixed-media” artist because I am trained in drawing, fashion design, 3D art, set/costume/lighting design for theater, millinery, photography, and so many other things. I use all of it, and every day I am doing more. Sometimes my daughter works alongside me, painting or drawing, cutting or crafting. She just started kindergarten. She likes my work but likes her work more. She already has an eye for composition at 5 years old. My ultimate goal is to be a role model for her. I want Vida to be strong, inquisitive, and smart, as well as creative and persistent; so, before I go any further let me say that any art I do, any creating at all - I am doing it to set a good example for her.
Mixed media art is so flexible, so mercurial. You get to use whatever is working for you at the time. You get to create texture, contrast, and juxtaposition of components. Plus, Mod Podge is awesome stuff. It really is. Feel like drawing today? Go for it. Want to paint now? Have at it. Oh, so you want to glue some found objects to the page? Okey dokey. Just make sure when you finish it, you feel better than you did when you started.
I am not a tortured artist who has to get some beautiful poison out of my body. In fact, I am quite the opposite. Art saves me on a daily by focusing my energy away from depression and disorganization. If there were time stamps on all of my art, you could match the timeline directly to my battle with post-partum depression, then divorce, then further depression. Art always seems to come after the darkest depths and helps to pull me out. Every day I create is a day I feel ok.
In so many cases, art is not deemed special because of the talent behind it but rather the act of creation itself. To say that “I make art” feels strange. It makes more sense to say I make a mess, that I make decisions, that I make time for myself and my mental well-being. I make an impression on my daughter, on my ex-husband, and the people around me. I make a choice, then another. But talent, craft, and conditioning have so little to do with it. What I do is imperative. It is life-affirming. Even if no one else in the world ever saw it, I would still need to do it. It comes as naturally as breathing sometimes, and other times I have to work at it like clay to make anything that feels like something. However hard or easy it comes, it is always the doing that is fulfilling.