Artist Statement 

 Launching a painting practice during the pandemic forced me to walk a path without thought of an end goal.  To be in a community as a beginner.  To look more deeply into the darks and lights.  To be patient with myself as shapes came in and out of focus on a canvas.  To go way outside my comfort zone.   

 I am grateful to many people.  To my friends Sia and John Sooklaris from Masterpiece Canvas who drove up from San Diego with a trunk full of gorgeous canvases to get me started.  To my friend, the artist Elizabeth Barlow, who spent hours answering beginner questions. To the many photographers who have given permission to use their photos in my art, particularly my  talented sister-in-law Catherine Ames whose landscape photographs have inspired me beyond measure.   To my friends Brad Erickson and Brian Protheroe at South Porch Artists Residency for offering me a chance to walk in the footpaths of my late teacher, Mary Gilkerson.  To my teachers Bobbi Heath and Carol Douglas  who have given me patience and love through both struggle and success.