My work expresses my relationship with family, society, world, and God. For inspiration I look first to people who are physically and emotionally closest to me, the people of my family. In my family I have more deeply experienced feelings of beauty, love, devotion, deception, vulnerability, loneliness, and fear--feelings which I have also experienced in sociey.
Over the years I experimented  with different types of media: oil on canvas, oils on photos, photo collages, digital, acrylic on glass and Plexiglas.

I named my oils on photos photopaintings. Photopaintings explore the two different languages of  painting and photography. The figures, as part of the photographs exist in the real external world, but the altered space surrounding them is subjective, referring  to personal interior realities. The new, hibrid image consists of photographic motifs embeded within a painterly space where the objective and subjective coexist without rejecting each other.  Sometimes I group photopaintings together as installations. The scale and diversity of installations better enable me to link experience, memory, tradition, and religion.

In my work on canvas I freely respond to the subject matter and seek to elicit emotional responses from viewers. I rely on intuition when painting, letting the interaction of content and imagination guide my brush without preconceived notions. Thus my work is essentially expressionistic whether it be a portrait or a product of pure abstraction. 

Paintings on Plexiglas and glass are inspired by the imagery and techniques of the 19th century tradition of Eastern European icons on glass. Often I use 2 or 3 layers of glass or Plexiglas to form an image sandwich. This makes it easier for me to introduce contemporary and personal thoughts into traditional settings. I think of icons in the context of devotion. Icons help common people live with hope and faith.

EDUCATION MFA 1991 in drawing and painting, University of Minnesota

SELECTED SOLO and INVITATIONAL EXHIBITS

2007 Art Saint Louis , Saint Louis, MO
2002 Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles,CA
1998 South Bend Regional Museum of Art, Art League Gallery, South Bend, IN
1998 Trinity Presbyterian Church, Denton, TX
1997 Kansas City Artists Coalition, Mallin Gallery, Kansas City, MO
1997 Grants Pass Museum of Art, Grants Pass, OR
1996 Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis, IN
1996 Eastern Washington University, Gallery of Photography, Cheney, WA
1994 Flanders Contemporary Art Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
1993 University of Minnesota at Morris, Humanities Fine Arts Center, Morris, MN
1993 College of Saint Benedict, Benedicta Art Center, Saint Joseph, MN
1999 Visions Gallery, "Remembering, Responding, Renewing", Albany, NY
1996 Katherine E Nash Gallery, "Figured IN Figured OUT; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
1995 Paul Watkins Gallery, “Vital Space”, Winona State University, Winona, MN
1994 Woodale Church, “Creator, Created, Creating”, Eden Prairie, MN
1992 Katherine E Nash Gallery, “Paintings at the Nash”, Minneapolis, MN

SELECTED AWARDS

1998 Excellence Award; "Spiritual ' 98 National Exhibition", Period Gallery, Omaha, NE
1998 Cash Award; “Illuminance”, Lubbock Fine Arts Center, Lubbock, TX
1998 First Place Award; “Liturgical and Sacred Art”, Liturgical Arts Festival of Springfield, IL
1998 Cash Award; “10th Annual National Art Exhibition”, Truman State University, Kirksville, MO
1995 Best of Show; “9th Annual Ecclesiastical Art Exhibition”, Historic Trinity Church, Detroit, MI
1994 Festival Prize; “12th Annual Christian Art Festival”, Cross View Church, Edina, MN
1994 Honorable Mention; “Focus’s Visions of Faith”, Nashville, TN
1993 Honorable Mention; “7th Ecclesiastical Art Exhibition”, Historic Trinity Church, Detroit, MI
1993 First Prize; “11th Annual Christian Art Festival”, Cross View Church, Edina, MN