Water and Light
There is a beautiful science to observing and recreating lightplay in my chosen painting subjects. I call my life's work "Water and Light" as an homage to the elements that are key factors in each painting I create. Sunlight and watercolor - both mercurial, challenging forces on their own - can take a collaboration of glassware, fabrics, florals and silver to a ethereal visual realm.
I hadn't always painted in watercolor. I grew up with pencils, crayons, charcoal and oil paints as my tools for creating. However, once I discovered the magic of this light, ethereal medium there was no turning back for me. Watercolor is weightless and luminous. I incorporate sunlight into my still life set-ups to create the visual interplay between shadow and light, reflections and refractions, but I find that the pigment itself possesses a quality that illuminates beyond the paper.
Moving from corporate design to painting full time was a dream that began to take form when my son was born. In his first weeks we were housebound. As I discovered, a newborn baby made plein air painting (my maternity leave fantasy) out of the question, especially in July of the hottest summer on record. But as I spent my days marveling over my new baby while rocking him to sleep, I became drawn to the late day's sunlight streaming through the windows as it traveled in its daily arc across my silver and glassware collection on a shelf in the dining room. The visual beauty of sunlight bending through glass and reflecting my world in polished silver was stunning - I knew then that the inspiration to create was right there, with me and my young son.
