Artist Statement
Making art has enriched my life from a young age. Raised in a family that encouraged the arts, I’ve lived mostly in New England. A year in France as a child introduced me to the beauty of that country, and I’ve returned to Europe many times, always finding inspiration.
I discovered ceramics in high school, and later at Harvard University where I majored in Visual & Environmental Studies, I studied painting, sculpture and printmaking. Since then, while practicing as a psychologist professionally, I’ve been active with painting, printmaking and ceramics over the last 20 years.
By choice, I prefer to work in a variety of media, and any day that I make something is a good day.
One of the dividends of painting is how it enhances one’s ability to see—details of natural beauty, composition, changing light. I paint what moves me, and in that sense, making art allows me to hold what’s fleeting.
I’m curious about what makes a sketch “feel finished”, and how to keep spontaneity and freshness in more fully resolved pieces.
Being able to move from one medium to another—pastel, collage, linocut—is inherently exciting to me. And whereas with watercolor I plan carefully and it may take days to complete a piece, with monotype printmaking the process is more spontaneous and fast-paced. When working in clay, I use brown stoneware exclusively, exploring a variety of forms and surface techniques, and the experience is calming and centering.
There is no “finished” without getting started, and beginning any piece involves taking a leap. I think of the words of Robert Henri (The Art Spirit, 1923) who said “Art is after all only a trace, like a footprint which shows that one has walked bravely, and in great happiness. No work of art is ever really finished. They only stop at good places. After all, the goal is not making art. It is living a life.”
My watercolors and prints have been shown locally, most recently at Gallery Twist, Lex Art, the Beebe Estate, and Harvard University.