I love to draw faces and figures from my imagination.   I draw them regularly in my journals using pen and ink. These stimulate and inspire me to create paintings.  I exaggerate proportions, and vary sizes to create moods and unrealistic spaces. I have been greatly influenced by the Surrealists and Symbolists artists of the past.  I play with color, line, and form and use patterns and repetition.

As I paint I think about women’s obsession with body image, make-up, hairstyles, and clothing. My intent is to draw attention to these obsessions, and I do so playfully with my figures.

Encaustic is the medium I choose for its beautiful translucency and transparency. Painting with encaustic, I can reveal and conceal images and text. It is a continual process of painting and drawing over forms. I have a large collection of papers, including,  calligraphy, Japanese and sewing pattern papers, maps, old books, scientific drawings, correspondence, and journal entries. These find their way into the levels of my paintings. As the layers build, mysteries arise from the previous layers. It is the hidden layers, or perhaps, the subconscious that intrigue me.