Artist Statement
 
 
My feeling for the Florida landscape and sensitivity to the environment makes my work a touchstone for viewing Florida even in an urban setting such as Pinellas County.  Hardly a day goes by that I don’t marvel at the uniqueness of the environment we live in, there is a drama that occurs at every moment if we only take the time to look.
 
My work is a digestion of experience as a native Floridian and many years observing the natural environment.  The processed requires on site painting in watercolor or pastel and the use of photography but culminating in the birth of the finished work as a block print in the studio.  I find that this process gives the work a stark, pretty but not sweet representation. My images have an edginess that even though it may be a landscape about Florida sunsets, clouds and birds there is something more to be said or thought about relating to our relationship to nature and everyday life. Everyone must bring to that conversation their own dialogue.
 
As a native I have watched the slipping away of the primal, the essential, the soul of Florida. I am privileged to have access to an unspoiled area, The Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge and have based most of my images on that habitat. My work represents the quintessential Florida. A Florida that is a contrast between big sky and impenetrable vegetation, spectacular sunsets and subtle colors of saw grass. There is peace there but also raw violent nature. The exploration of the edge between beauty and violence is a concept that I work to portray.