Parmelia Lichen

Mixed media on wood panel, 12x12x1, 2024

My work reflects my close observation of small-scale native landscapes throughout their tidal and seasonal cycles. Working abstractly, yet anatomically accurately, I try to surprise viewers with unusual views to induce them to discover the complex design inherent in nature. Due to heavily collaged mixed-media elements, the paintings are highly topographical, as though life forms grow out from their surfaces. Compositions tend to lack traditional focal points, thus reflecting the mobile, momentary, sometimes disorienting way we encounter nature.

I have been painting for over 40 years. As a teenager struggling with undiagnosed PTSD, artmaking was lifesaving for me. I painted and exhibited in Boston for decades while raising my sons, and until 2022 taught writing to students of all ages and backgrounds, from hospital workers to nursing students to first-year college students. The pandemic brought me back into the studio, transformed. I have exhibited and sold my work widely. I recently moved to the PNW and am currently looking for gallery representation.