Journeys and Passages

On exhibit at the Aurora Hills Branch Library, June – September 2016

Artist Statement:

I am a local Arlingtonian, and I have found inspiration and love in oil paints over the last half-dozen years. I minored in Visual Arts in college, but my focus then was photography. After college I moved back home and worked for a few years while I built a van into a camper. The plan was to traverse the Pan-American Highway, Alaska to Argentina, in two years, stopping in both Central and South America for several months to work with local non-profits. After a wonderful but somewhat traumatic long-term travel experience (and we only made it half-way), I came back to Arlington to start over again, and as part of my “re-find me” plan, I signed up for an oil painting class through Arlington’s Adult Education program. I’ve been signing up every semester for the last six years for Jane McElvany Coonce’s painting class, and feel that I have grown immensely from her tutelage and from observing others in class. Many of my first paintings were transformations of photographs that I had taken over the years in college and on my travels.

Today, I focus on light and vibrancy, attempting to draw my viewers in with color and composition, often making you feel that you are a part of the painting. My style would most likely be called photorealism, but with a flare of effervescence that captivates more than a photograph ever could.

 

Want to buy something you see on our walls? Artists contribute 20% of sales made during their exhibit to the Friends of the Arlington County Public Library, to help support Library programming.