Artist Statement

I am dedicated to art and to my community, and want to further my art education so that I can share it and enrich my community. I have been painting and drawing since childhood. I discovered clay 15 years ago as a senior in college, and fell in love with the tactile, versatile medium. Since then, I have been steadily working in drawing, painting and clay in my home studio, the Creative Drawing Group, Teri Silva’s studio, and most recently, at Skagit Valley College. Currently I am a second year AVA major, studying life drawing and painting with Mary Iverson and Chris Gildow.

I do portrait and figurative work of women in acrylic, oils and clay. I sculpt in low fire terra-cotta and also stoneware. My subject is women, and I seek to express enigmatic moments of solitude and privacy that hint at their interior complexity. I am fascinated by the depths of human psychology, and how people feel about their environment. My models are often friends or myself.

Currently, I am in my second year at SVC, and then I plan to transfer to Western Washington University to complete a Bachelors in fine arts. Then, I would like to open an art academy for children in Skagit Valley, developing technique and expression at an early age. I have been sharing and teaching art in Skagit County for the past 10 years through teaching clay classes to preschoolers, after-school programs, retreats groups and elementary school students. In addition, I have continuously donated art for the Children’s Museum Charity Auction, and the Children of the Valley Art Auction. I have a passion and dedication to art, and in sharing that with my community.