Memories are not a passive recording of everyday events. We construct our own memories to help us understand our lives. We continually use these constructed memories to tell our own story to ourselves and to others. Memories are a way of reconstructing ordinary moments and making them into a personal narrative. My art continues this transformation into the visual world.
I use small brushes and pencils. Making small marks and brush strokes makes me consider every inch of the paper or board. It also makes me go slowly. Because these drawings take a long time they can evolve as they are drawn. Some of my drawings have two layers of paper on parts of the drawing. This is adds texture. It also makes it more difficult to paint and draw on which makes me consider more consciously how I am using the media. I study art and pattern books because it helps me tell the story of each piece. I am influenced by the style and symbolism of Medieval Art . Because some of the larger drawings take a long time and much consideration I also work on still lives and landscapes. They are more immediate and finished in a day or two. They are of the present and a meditation for me to think of (and in some cases not think of) the larger memory pieces . When I hear a visitor in my studio say something in my drawings reminds them of something in their life it make me feel satisfied with my work and the work is complete because I have communicated with that person through my art.