
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, MOSELECTED 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