Though I received an excellent art education at Cooper Union, I have long felt an affinity for outsider art.    Especially attractive to me are the obsessive patterning and fantastical creatures that commonly appear in the art of the insane, folk art and various types of illuminated manuscripts. 

The project I’m currently working on was inspired by the story of Abby Sunderland, the 16-year-old who attempted to sail solo around the world, but failed and had to be rescued by Australian sailors.  If Abby Sunderland had a “fleet” of friendly boats around her, she would be able to live out her dream with a safety net.  My project creates a “Fleet for Abby” of painted boats, which serves as a metaphor for the group of friends who we invite around us to accompany us on the journey of life. 

In a world where technology intrudes into our lives, I value the hand-made.  My paintings are done in gouache/ graphite on Japanese Okawara paper.  Intricate patterns drawn and painted free-hand, without use of tape or masking, reveal the hand of the maker.  My process is slow and meditative; the scale is usually small and personal.  My work is imaginative in its approach, with unusual coloring and unrealistic patterns transforming otherwise realistic objects (boats, homes, or animal species).