Artist Statement

The day I knew I had to start painting was on a day trip from Melrose to Gloucester, MA. By chance, I stumbled upon the old Studio Restaurant on historic Rocky Neck. Through the window a beautiful large painting of dories sitting next to a wharf appeared. It stopped me in my tracks! The sky was big and water, wide. The lush colors washed over me. I just wanted to walk into that painting, jump into that dory, and paddle away!

Composing a painting is filled with the freedom of choices! In the process, I pretend to be a Hollywood film director, choosing the best actors, backgrounds, and details, or lack thereof. Sights, sounds, and colors are noted live on the scene. In my studio, the space is shared with singer-songwriters, Patty Griffin, and Louise Mosrie (to name a few). These greats entertain, guide and ground me with their own musical compositions. I try to hit the high notes, with vibrant colors and big brushstrokes, as in my painting series, “Salt Island Breeze.”

The very first artists that inspired me were Robert and Emile Gruppe, Don Stone, and a few film directors. My memory is filled with Gruppe’s epic skies and transportive seascapes. I remember Don Stone’s gorgeous lime green skies and sailcloths as realistic in an outrageous way. I fell in love with Bob Stephenson’s imaginative landscapes filled with skies made of keyholes. Like Martin Scorsese, I am driven to depict a culture club of people as in my paintings of Good Harbor, “We Dive at Five,” and “Salt Island Breeze” and “High Tide Club.” Colorful lush oils, brushes and palette knives, are irresistible to me.

To give you the experience of color, nostalgia, or just a break in this world of uncertainty, is to feel the freedom and power of art. Enriching your life, in turn, enriches my own.

In closing, I hope my paintings stop you in your tracks! Reminisce in the empty parking lot in “Out of Snacks, or, be a teenager again in “We Dive at Five.” Row out as far as you can!

”Art is emotion, beautifully organized.” - Betty Lou Schlemm