i like to explore and discover as I paint and write. sometimes, i think and plan or i reflect on my dreams.  often i act on what moves me emotionally in an unjust world or in my personal life. then i play on the canvas. iI meld painting, printmaking and text. i often mix media such as etching, encaustic, collage, painting and hand sewing.

 

i assemble common things such as recycled brown paper bags, wood crates, kitchen shelving, wire and thrift store gadgets. i enjoy demystifying the process of making art by using common media, by mixing media and by painting about the struggles, beauty and triumph of common folks.

 

of concern for me are struggling immigrant families and workers, abused women, children and elders and the destruction of our environment. i am guided by my 5 c’s . they are color, the culture of heritage and politics, cotidiana or the common, collage or layering and caprice or the unpredictable. 

 

when i write and when i paint, i try to express my authentic voice.

 

in conclusion, i quote max rothman, german jewish art critic and art dealer of the 1920’s. “what you paint doesn’t have to be beautiful. it doesn’t have to be good or bad. it just needs to be true.”

 

i admire nature for having the guts to follow its creative instinct no matter what. i wrote the following haiku honoring this amazing innate tendency.

 

scarlet roses

burst-

unashamed

 

ides of march

daffodils bloom

they wither away

 

2013 anthology of the southern california haiku study group