 I have been an artist all of my life, drawing incessantly as a kid in my spare time as well as during class according to my former teachers. I graduated from Massachusetts College of Art with a BFA in Illustration, earned a Masters of Education in Arts and Learning and currently work as an art teacher in my childhood hometown north of Boston.
My work is a combination of things I enjoy. As a portrait artist I am partial to capturing the character of a subject with an emphasis on the eyes. Many of the works are comprised solely of eyes. It is said the eyes are the gateway to the soul or the spirit. All I know is that it connects to my soul and spirit.
I have always admired the expert renderings ofpen and ink artist Elmer Rising. His work was painstakingly detailed and comprised of tiny dots, dashes and lines. His fur was lifelike, the eyes liquid and everything down to the last detail was simply breathtaking. I work in the same manner, taking hours to complete an illustration and relishing the time spent with the piece. I work patiently, gradually building in the details all the while a light hint of smoke wafts through the studio. It's quite peaceful and comforting.
One of my favorite features of this novel art form is the wood I work on. Each piece of maple burl has a distinct shape and color that designates the subject I am going to portray. I love the uniqueness of each shape, each piece of wood with it's swirling grain patterns. The natural bark borders of the Big Leaf Maple burls allude to the wilderness that many of the subjects inhabit. The thin maple pieces that I use for the tiny miniature burnings are a wonderfully smooth and very minimally figured surface to work on.
I also works in miniature on South American Tagua nut (also called vegetable ivory), a sustainable alternative to ivory derived from animals. These small works of art are framed or fashioned into one of a kind pieces of jewelry. I have also discovered simple birch and maple plywood with it's creamy, light color and clean, almost non-existent grain. It's like working on a fancy piece of paper, only heftier. My wonderful husband with his man cave full of tools helps me with the cutting. But that's where he draws the line. The sanding is left up to me.
I am particularly fond of Russian nesting dolls or Matroyshka. I have amassed an impressive collection of the these handmade, one of kind masterpieces inspired by a trip to Alaska years ago. I have completed a number of bottleholders that take more time than I'm willing to admit to but I really do love how they turned out. The tiger piece won an international competition of cleverly and beautifully designed artworks. I am particularly fond of the piece.
My work is inspired by contrasts and natural subjects. Reality is conveyed in an unusual manner through cropped compositions, distinctive textures as well as the warm sepia tones unique to the process of Pyrography.
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