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Artist Statement:
I have had the privilege of
traveling to many remote areas of the world where most
people have not had the opportunity to see up close. At that
time in my life, I loved photography, and was particularly
drawn to people and their activities - their beautiful
faces, postures and costumes. Village life and city life and
particularly the children. I was very discreet and took
mostly candid shots. I wanted to capture people in their
every day life.
Around 1993 I became interested
in painting. I began taking classes at a community college
in Phoenix and then attended classes and workshops at the
Scottsdale Artist School. Again I was drawn back to the
photos I had taken over the years.
As a painter, I want to portray
the lifestyles of ordinary people doing ordinary things. In
today's society, our world has become smaller and more
complex. We see things through the eyes of politicians, good
and bad leaders, and the complexity of politics and wars
going on all over the world. We are bombarded by pictures
over our televisions and the internet, voices over our
radios, and photos in our papers - "the good, the bad and
the ugly". As our world becomes smaller and more
homogenized, those unique societies will become obsolete. Old tools will become mechanized and technology will take
over. Old customs will be discarded. Western customs and
habits will become the norm. All will be lost. This is
happening at a very fast pace.
Since recorded time, artists
have documented their images. These artistic images recorded
societies they lived in or traveled through. I am committed
to preserving my own images, my memories and my observations
by putting them on canvas with oils and on paper with oil
pastels. I do this with respect and love for all the people
I have met during my own travels. I also have the joy of
reliving those images through my own mind's eye.
Recognition for my work began
with a 4th place ribbon for my oil painting, "The Carpenters
of Kashgar", shown at the 1997 Arizona State Fair. Also in
1997, an oil pastel entitled "Florieanna" was awarded a gold
medal by the United Pastelists of America. In 1999, I won
the EZ-Go Artish award by the Y2K Edward Hopper Pastel Show
in New York for "Young Women of Tibet" (oil pastel). I was
juried into the Catharine Lorrillard Wolfe Art Club's 103rd
Annual Open Exhibition in 1999, The American Artist
Professional League Grand National Exhibition at the
Salmangundi Club in 1999 and 2000, and in 2003, awarded the
Jay Johnson Award by Doug Dawson for "Chinese Gamblers,
Xinjiang Province" (oil pastel). The same painting was shown
at the Newington-Cropsey Foundation Invitational, Hastin-On-Hudson,
NY.
Recently, I've begun painting
dog portraits.
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