Since I began painting, I have worked exclusively in watercolor photorealism. One of the reasons I am compelled to create art is because the process never fails to quiet my mind. I struggle with anxiety, but when I am painting those thoughts disappear, and I become lost in color and shadow and all those tiny little elements. I have tried painting in a more quick and loose style, but that just doesn’t provide me with the same kind of escapism that tight photorealism does. 

A Feminine Touch, transparent watercolor on 300-lb soft-pressed Fabriano paper, 14 x 20" (35 x 50 cm)  A Feminine Touch is really just a simple statement about the strength of women. Underneath the carefully crafted, aesthetic facade lies a readiness to fight for equality, safety, dignity and respect.

 

My choice of medium is a challenging one for this purpose. With watercolor, I have to do much more problem solving—figuring out how to save my whites and in what order I should approach the various components and layers of my subject—and I have less ability to correct for errors. These additional challenges amplify the level of concentration required, but that only enhances the experience of flow and enjoyment for me.

Vanitas Domina, transparent watercolor on 300-lb cold-pressed Kilimanjaro paper, 14 x 21" (35 x 53 cm)  Vanitas Domina is my feminist take on a traditional Dutch vanitas painting.

 

I take a medium known for its softness and unpredictability and push it to its outermost limits of saturation and control. My still life paintings are a celebration of the intricacies of the familiar and the beauty generated by the patina of time. Although I gravitate toward vintage subjects, my work is informed by my current life experiences and surroundings. As a result, my work offers an interplay between the present and the past, providing a detailed study of extant objects and themes while simultaneously evoking a sense of history and nostalgia. 

It’s Fine. I’m Fine. Everything is Fine, transparent watercolor on 300-lb cold-pressed Kilimanjaro paper, 22 x 19" (55 x 48 cm) It’s Fine… was inspired by a specific paragraph in a book by Rebecca Traister, Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger. This painting symbolizes the demands placed on women by an overwhelming number of competing life roles and obligations, and its title suggests our typical, gritted-teeth response to it all.

 

Smile, Sweetheart!, transparent watercolor on 300-lb soft-pressed Fabriano paper, 14 x 17" Smile, Sweetheart! is a trompe l’oeil style assemblage of items that references a mundane yet infuriating suggestion to which nearly all women can relate.

 

More recently, I have become particularly interested in producing work that speaks to the issues of women’s rights and gender inequality. I have grown increasingly angry as I’ve watched the pandemic and the current political environment in the United States exacerbate the problems that women face, and I am routinely frustrated by the underrepresentation of women in the arts both broadly and more specifically within my chosen medium. My most recent paintings reflect this new focus. —