I grew up in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. That ridge across the horizon was the dramatic frame within which we lived our lives: a hazy blue line on humid sunny days, a wall over which waves of misty cloud seep on cold mornings, or a black silhouette against a backdrop of wild rain and lightning. The foreground doesn’t disappoint either: waterfalls, forest, rivers, and fields offer a thousand vistas, each changing with the season and every five-minute increment of weather. To me, these wild places are divinity. They are sanctuary. They are home.

Living in this wild, willful landscape, I naturally came to the belief in my own irreplaceability and the wondrous love that the creator has for us. Others have written of the indifference of nature, but I know that this is nonsense. Yes, nature goes on whatever happens, but not unchanged. Every small happening causes deep and irrevocable change that, over time, transforms the world over and over again. Each of us is one of those changes, and that is both indelible and intentional.

I create mixed media paintings that aim to share my belief in the unique value of every living thing, and to share that surety of worth and belonging with everyone who sees them. Using techniques ranging from naturalistic painting and drawing to true painterly abstraction, and incorporating embroidery, precious metal leafing, and other mixed media, my work tells you that you are loved, wanted, and intended among creation, just as each mountain, flower, and bird was meant to be.