Artist Statement
I’ve always been fascinated by the beauty of colors and textures, especially those found in the natural world. In spring and summer months, I have celebrated seeing wildflowers dot the bright green fields, held smooth, shiny pebbles, and felt the silky moss that lined the trickling streams. I’ve hiked through lush woodlands and majestic Saguaro-filled hillsides, enjoying the lichen-covered sticks and rocks. In autumn, I celebrated brilliantly colored leaves of sugar maples as they sharply contrasted with fields of gold and the bright blue autumn sky. During winter, as a child, delicate white snowflakes and shiny icicles greeted me many mornings. At night the moon illuminated the serene landscape, and the stars looked like softly sprinkled powder across the velvety black sky.
Since moving to the American Southwest, I have been captivated by beautiful desert canyons. My home in west Tucson has unobstructed views of the Santa Catalina Mountains that sometimes seem to touch the clouds. I have enjoyed majestic Arizona rainbows from my back patio and celebrated
the vibrant sunrises and sunsets that never fail to spark awe within me. When the moon rises into the desert night sky, and the celestial bodies come into view, it sometimes can feel like magic to have the opportunity to see the wonders of Nature.
In my art I bring together color, texture, space, and light to convey my love of the natural world. I am still fascinated by the way natural stone and minerals will fracture under the force of my Italian hammer and hardie tools. I am still smitten with the hues of beautiful glass, and the way the light refracts across the highly textured surfaces of carefully combined materials. Mosaic art is one of the most ancient and durable forms of art. Like stitches in needlepoint, tesserae combine into powerful and evocative unified expressions. Each tessera means something: if you take away one, the entire composition changes.