Artist's Statement

Fundamentally these pieces have to do with memory. Specifically, the memories of time passed in nature are represented. Our understanding of the world around us relies on multiple levels of experience. There is the in-the-moment sensory perception of our surroundings. We smell the grass and earth below our feet. Are momentarily blinded as the leaves rustle open a space of light. We feel a light breeze against the summer heat and taste the salty humidity of the air. A bird chirps in unison with its peers. All of these are stored in our memory of a place. When we are fully present in our surroundings these things can be experienced in a very visceral way. As time passes those memories become abstracted, fragmented, jumbled together, details are lost. They may be forgotten or generalized into all instances that are similar. Calling on memory to help describe these often leaves you with a singular moment in time. You got to the top of the hill and felt the cool sea air hit your lungs as you peered through the fog toward the ocean. One hot summer afternoon you duck into the shade of a riverbank willow to become entranced by the buzz of cicadas and the atmosphere filled with the intense smell of flowers. They are the center of what is captured in a blink of time.

These ephemeral moments are heavily influenced by walking along trails, watching the passage of light. Even the format of the display references scattered light. Light effects our perception of an environment. It changes the perception of color. These paintings intentionally saturate or de-saturate color for the purpose of emphasis. They are distilled to their fundamental essence. The light seen reflected off the snow on a bright winter day differs greatly from the light found at sunrise in the summer. The paintings consider a range of times and places and are grouped together for the purpose of finding beauty in all.