Portraits & Figures
Please click on the center of the first image to see entire painting
In the 90's
Watercolor
"In the 90’s" – Artist Statement
In the 90’s is a deeply personal watercolor series honoring my mother’s life after she turned ninety. Through this collection, I’ve sought to capture quiet moments of joy, resilience, and reflection—scenes that reveal not just what she did, but who she was. Whether sipping coffee from her china cup, reading, knitting, or holding her great-great-granddaughter Leah, each painting offers a glimpse into the daily rituals and enduring love that defined her later years.
But my mother was more than gentle habits and tender moments—she was a force of nature. A widow who raised six children on her own, she fished and hunted to feed her family, chopped her own firewood well into her eighties, and lived off-grid in the mountains without running water. She battled bears, carried water by hand, and when asked why she chose such a hard life, she simply said, "I love the animals and the beauty and solitude of the woods."
This series is a tribute to her pioneering spirit, her fierce independence, and the quiet grace she carried into her nineties. It is my way of preserving her story—with brush, paper, and love.
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Mirror Image
Acrylic
Mirror Image – Artist Statement
Mirror Image explores the quiet, often unspoken dialogue women have with their reflections. In this acrylic series, I focus on the act of looking—intimate moments where identity, self-perception, and vulnerability meet. Each figure is caught in a private pause, gazing into a mirror not just to see, but to question, affirm, or simply be.
Using bold contrasts, layered textures, and deliberate composition, I highlight both the physical form and the emotional tension that can exist in these moments of self-confrontation. The mirror becomes more than a surface—it’s a space of reflection in every sense.
This series invites viewers to consider the complexity of how we see ourselves, and how those fleeting glances can reveal more than they conceal.
Speaking of Music
Acrylic
Speaking of Music – Artist Statement
This series is a visual expression of rhythm, harmony, and emotion—the way music feels, not just how it sounds. Working in acrylic, I translate melodies into movement using bold color, layered texture, and dynamic composition. Each painting reflects a different mood: the energy of jazz, the flow of classical, the soul of blues.
Rather than depict instruments or musicians literally, I focus on the abstract qualities of music—tempo, volume, syncopation—transforming sound into shape. I build each piece intuitively, letting the beat guide the brush, the silence shape the space.
Music is my way of making the invisible visible—giving voice to the soundtracks that shape our lives.
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Sunday at Pop's
Acrylic, Watercolor, Pastel
Sunday at Pop’s – Artist Statement
Sunday at Pop’s is a deeply personal series that celebrates the heart of my family—those ordinary Sundays that became unforgettable. Using watercolor, acrylic, and pastel, I’ve recreated moments that feel both intimate and universal: shared meals, quiet glances, laughter in the kitchen, the worn armchair where stories were told.
Each piece is rooted in memory, painted with affection and a touch of nostalgia. I use loose washes, layered textures, and expressive line to capture not just the scenes, but the feeling of being there—the warmth, the rhythm, the comfort of belonging. This work isn’t about perfection; it’s about presence. It’s about honoring the ties that hold us together.
Through this series, I invite viewers into my family’s world—one filled with love, history, and the small, sacred moments that shape who we are.
African Festival
Watercolor
African Festival – Artist Statement
This watercolor series is inspired by the people, culture, and rhythms of Africa. Each piece reflects my fascination with the strength and grace found in everyday moments—market scenes, quiet portraits, and vibrant textiles rendered in fluid washes and layered color.
I’m drawn to the expressive beauty in posture and gesture, using light and shadow to highlight both dignity and story. Watercolor allows me to suggest rather than define, capturing fleeting impressions with transparency and motion. The work is both observational and interpretive—rooted in realism, yet softened by memory and emotion.
These paintings are a tribute to resilience, tradition, and the quiet poetry of life as I experienced and imagined it through an artist’s lens.
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Born Blonde
Acrylic
Figurative and Portrait Work in Acrylic – Artist Statement
My figurative and portrait paintings explore the quiet power of presence—capturing subtle gestures, expressions, and the still tension of a moment. Working in acrylic with a strong foundation in value and form, I use bold contrasts and strategic lighting to shape mood and meaning.
Rather than chase overt emotion, I let composition, light, and shadow speak. The figures become more than likenesses—they're stories told through posture, restraint, and what remains unsaid. Though grounded in realism, the work leans into abstraction through spatial design and shape relationships, inviting the viewer to pause and sense what lies beneath.
Whether a solitary figure or a close-up gaze, each painting aims to reveal the silence between moments—those intangible echoes of thought, memory, and presence.
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Time Travel
Watercolor
Time Travel – Artist Statement
Traveling Through the Years is a reflective watercolor series that traces the quiet beauty of life’s journey—places visited, people loved, and moments remembered. Each painting is a snapshot of time, capturing the way light touches a familiar street, the tilt of a hat, or the warmth of a long-ago afternoon.
I use watercolor’s strength and spontaneity to evoke memory—its fluid nature mirroring the way our recollections shift and blur with time. Some pieces are grounded in real places; others are shaped by feeling and nostalgia. All are tied together by a sense of passage and presence.
This series is not just about travel—it’s about the movement through life, and the stories we carry with us along the way.
