My journey into visual art has developed from a mere interest and accent of my art education career into a compelling quest for unique and expressive design and concept.
I began this more serious study while attending the Virginia Commonwealth University Art Department in 1981. Inspired by the early work of Larry Poons, I began to experiment with various materials in an attempt to discover fluid and responsive texture. Many of the materials I worked with in those first years were either too difficult to manipulate or cost prohibitive.
Eventually, I settled on plaster as the most suitable medium and began to focus on discovering the best support, binder, vehicle, pigment, surface quality, and sealant. However, due to the constraints of full-time teaching, my efforts were sporadic. I was unable to devote myself to the task until 1996 when I moved back to Grand Haven to be the primary caregiver for my ailing mother. My ignorance of traditional fresco methods proved advantageous, as I was able to arrive at a process uniquely my own. I soon identified my “quasi-fresco” technique and began to apply it to various subject matter.
Through my Master of Arts degree at Fontbonne College, as well as time spent with the St. Louis Artists’ Guild Life Drawing Group, I became intrigued with figure drawing. It is a delight to combine the figure with my mixed fresco method in portraying human conflict, struggle and redemption as conveyed in the Bible. However, nonobjective art remains my greatest fascination and this new fresco method adds an element of surprise and enriched texture to my nonrepresentational compositions. The opportunities for experimentation seem endless! Working with still life, portrait and landscape images also continues as an important part of my craft.
