As an avid traveler and resident abroad, I have witnessed the beauty of nature and urban scenes throughout the world. This travel has inspired me to create paintings that explore and portray connections I discovered within nature, viewers, and even within myself. I chose the scenes that impressed me or created a sense of belonging within me. I admire the idea of Impressionism, which is the effort to capture a split second of life, an ephemeral moment in time, on the canvas. I am interested in applying Impressionist methods into my painting, but in a personal and contemporary way. For example, in my painting, Glow Above the Bay, I manipulated the color palette from Claude Monet’s work, Impression, Sunrise, where I too, used a blue-violet paint to suggest a moody overall background of water and sky, but I accented it with a bright yellow reflection, within my contemporary scene.
Generally, I design my compositions with a large foreground and render the atmospheric perspective to create an inviting space for the viewer.
I do not include figures in my compositions because I’m trying to inspire viewers to visualize themselves within scenes, and to evoke a connection with the surrounding nature. I pair palette knives with brushes to create abstract marks and movement, within my representational landscapes. I hope viewers will look at my images from different distances. They will find abstract marks at short range, but an entire, resolved landscape, from further away.
My works emphasize atmospheric perspective, a variety of color and temperature, and a play of light and shadow patterns. Through my paintings, I would like to convey a way to experience world, not simply as a tourist, but as an artist working in a new location. I seek to bring the viewer into a contemplative moment that evokes harmony and serenity, as well as creating a connection with our environment.