There is no formal answer for many of the questions that art presents us. I will graduate with a degree in studio art from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke in the spring of 2003. I still cannot tell my viewers why I feel compelled to create. I initially enrolled at East Carolina University to study jewelry design in the fall of 1999. The methods and tools of historical techniques of art making inspired me; to be able to make innovations in the art world, I wanted a firm grasp on the conventions of past masters. The fluid designs of early Celtic art influenced my work. I later transferred to the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, where I began my current concentration in painting and computer graphics. I studied watercolors in Germany and oil painting under Tarleton Blackwell, as my use of color became more generous. While I still attempt to integrate renaissance ideas of color triangulation into my work, my colors are more modern in tone and application. I want to use contemporary tools, such as computers and recent advances in paint making, to create a current statement about my experience in this culture. I have no great spiritual insights or religious messages in my work; I will continue to search for the reasons why I create while I am left with the conclusion that it is the image, not the transcendental ideologies behind the piece, that is the most important in my work. If there are messages in my artwork, I am confident that the viewer will find their own meaning, rather than relying on my interpretation. My influences range from Art Nouveau to manuscript illumination and Egyptian art: any pattern or theme I find aesthetically pleasing. Through the juxtaposition of themes from the past and today, my goal is to make images that are both current and original.

Artist Highlights

• ArtWanted.com Gallery:    Fine Art
• Proficient Software:   Photoshop, Dreamweaver