I work from human models or people in photographs. I search for forms that interest my eye, sometimes related to the topic of the photograph. My attention is focused on aging beauty, odd shapes, and my family. I love bright, intense color and frequently start with that. Then, stuff happens... I try different colors, tones, lines, and try again...and again. Until some resulting pattern of shape and color pleases my eye: being (in some weird way) "balanced", with large to small and dark to light parts, intense ...but not all over.
I have always been creative. As was my mother. Clothing and fashion were early interests, fostered by both my parents' interests. I needed to be able to draw the human form to show off the clothing I designed, so I figured out how to do that. I have studied art formally since 9th grade: drawing, painting, sculpture, collage.
Of course I have been influenced by my favorite artists and teachers: Picasso, Vlaminck, Mary Cassatt, Ben Shawn, Bonnard, Egon Schiele, De Kooning, Joseph Nyeri, Carl Hertel, Elliot Elgart, Joseph Blaustein, Stanley Mock, Claire Hunzakus, Hilary Taub, Harry Gunderson, and Carla Jerome. From them I learn, and re-learn, color, shape, line, intensity, placement and having a large sense of humor about my work...or is that last part ...all mine?
