PORTFOLIO
My intention with my work is to create a space where the viewer is encouraged to pause so they can tune into the spirit that dwells inside. I use nature as a catalyst to spur deep self-listening so that viewers can connect with a force larger than themselves to discover their purpose.
My process takes the viewer through a series of steps that, I hope, result in a desire to share themselves spiritually as individuals and engage with others in dialog socially. It starts with the cultivation of the awareness of our natural surroundings, and a curiosity of who we are within them.
I want to encourage an awareness that goes beyond labeling, and moves from seeing a mountain, a sunset, or a creek to feeling them. Feeling nature means knowing our spiritual self—knowing Truth. When we feel spiritually connected, our creative response is enhanced and we begin to engage in our purpose. We start to ask what it means to live an inspired and meaningful life.
I have always been compelled to learn from nature. Nature leaves trails that you can follow if you pay attention. Layers of sediment, dry riverbeds, eroded mountains, stains of waterflows and plant life preserve secrets of nature’s past. Nature provides a common experience of textures, colors and material that we can share in an instant without words through art. Ancient cave drawings depicted images of flora, fauna, and constellations, as well as spiritual icons, that record the mysteries of our human connection with nature.
I am part Cherokee, so told to me by my grandmother and father. Both are gone now and their stories were full of gaps, lack of information and living relatives. With very little information I started on a quest to learn more about my heritage. I came across the stories of Red Bird and Sequoia who developed the Cherokee syllabary in the mid 1800’s. I also studied calligraphy in China during an East /West exchange during my MFA program at JFK. I thought about how Red Bird and Sequoia travelled through many tribes to get the sound of the Cherokee language down into symbols and how the movement of the brush strokes in Chinese calligraphy recorded the flow of Chi and sound into a different kind of alphabet.
My process takes the viewer through a series of steps that, I hope, result in a desire to share themselves spiritually as individuals and engage with others in dialog socially. It starts with the cultivation of the awareness of our natural surroundings, and a curiosity of who we are within them.
I want to encourage an awareness that goes beyond labeling, and moves from seeing a mountain, a sunset, or a creek to feeling them. Feeling nature means knowing our spiritual self—knowing Truth. When we feel spiritually connected, our creative response is enhanced and we begin to engage in our purpose. We start to ask what it means to live an inspired and meaningful life.
I have always been compelled to learn from nature. Nature leaves trails that you can follow if you pay attention. Layers of sediment, dry riverbeds, eroded mountains, stains of waterflows and plant life preserve secrets of nature’s past. Nature provides a common experience of textures, colors and material that we can share in an instant without words through art. Ancient cave drawings depicted images of flora, fauna, and constellations, as well as spiritual icons, that record the mysteries of our human connection with nature.
I am part Cherokee, so told to me by my grandmother and father. Both are gone now and their stories were full of gaps, lack of information and living relatives. With very little information I started on a quest to learn more about my heritage. I came across the stories of Red Bird and Sequoia who developed the Cherokee syllabary in the mid 1800’s. I also studied calligraphy in China during an East /West exchange during my MFA program at JFK. I thought about how Red Bird and Sequoia travelled through many tribes to get the sound of the Cherokee language down into symbols and how the movement of the brush strokes in Chinese calligraphy recorded the flow of Chi and sound into a different kind of alphabet.