Artist’s Statement

When I develop works of art, I feel I share creative power with my own Creator.  When working successfully, I am truly ‘inspired,’ feeling alive through the breath of the Spirit, and filled with joy and a deep sense of connection.

As a lifelong lover of words, my collages are often my creative response to a phrase, poem, spiritual passage or dream.  Cutting out detailed images from various sources and arranging them in a meaningful and aesthetically pleasing design, satisfies my obsessive-compulsive need for order, as well as my spiritual and emotional desire to see the ‘hidden wholeness’ in things.  The process also allows my mind to wander and make the associations between words and images that feed my work.

In my collages I seek to illustrate the integrated tension between reality and mystery, pain and joy, darkness and light.  The use of papers with varied textures, patterns and colors, along with the juxtaposition and interplay of flat and three dimensional images, visually express that tension. 

My pieces rarely end up as I imagined them.  The unpredictable give and take of the process, and the possibilities and limitations of my craft, allow pieces to develop a life of their own.  As I witness what evolves, I delve deeply into my soul.  My work then becomes an integral part of my spiritual growth.