Artist Statement
I have been an artist of many mediums my whole life. The daughter of an opera singer and an electrical engineer and the youngest of 5 kids, I grew up in the woods just outside of Elmira, NY in the Finger Lakes area. I had many kind, skilled and nurturing teachers in art, music, dance and theater and I carried a love of all these things with me to the city of Philadelphia. Obsessed with performance and theater, I graduated with honors with a BFA in Musical Theater from the University of the Arts. In addition to my studies in theater, music and dance, I have painted, drawn, learned and created in many forms throughout my life.
Like many women, I came to a point in my life where I abandoned my personal artistic ambitions in the interest of practicality and family. I pushed my artistic pursuits aside and channeled my creativity into being a mother, a wife, working and living. As my life and the world have become more chaotic, noisy, max capacity and saturated with information, I continue to be drawn to art. Throughout much of my adult life I told myself that I was too busy to a make art and that the way I see the world doesn’t really matter much in the grand scheme of things. Any of my creations would be more noise in an already overly noisy world.
As I have raised my family, I have started to see the world more and more through the eyes of my children. I want to share as much art, beauty and humanness with my kids as I can. I need them to know that the world is not just a place of despair, fear and ugliness as we are so often led to believe. Artistic expression and creativity are ways to mitigate the painful things we experience and ways to celebrate our joy. Art helps us to understand our history and who we are. I tell my children that when things don’t go your way, when you go through things that are painful or confusing, or when you don’t know what to do with your feelings, you can shut down, break down, find a vice, or you can create. In an increasingly negative and fear-based society, the world needs more creation, beauty and hope, and it needs all of our creative voices.
I create as authentically, honestly and frequently as I can. I have always been fascinated with beauty in all it’s forms. There is as much beauty to be expressed in the dark shadows of life as in the open, sunny places and I work to convey the beauty in both that exist all around me. I hope that by sharing my art with others I can inspire more people to be true to themselves and not silence their own creative voices. We each have a voice, and we each deserve to be heard!
Exhibitions, Affiliations, Projects and CommissionsExhibitions
* denotes juried exhibitions
Affiliations
Professional Projects and Commissions
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