Our modern world can move jarringly quickly, bombarding the senses with images, conflicting information and ideas. I make art slowly as a counterweight to our expedited cultural moment, honoring serene simplicity. In the interplay of light with water or in the compelling patterns in nature, we feel an essential truth: We are of the natural world, not separate from it. In this knowledge, our humanity is restored.

I began to explore the use of natural art materials in order to further express the values of ecology, sustainability, and physical connection to the earth in my work. These include natural inks, plant dyes, minerals and metals. In a mineral pigment painting system, gauzy layers of color are built up with pigments of varying particle sizes. These materials express nature based subjects in just the way I see them: luminous and poetic.

Drawing from my experience in western watercolor and oil painting, I use mineral pigments in combination with other materials to create unique contemporary imagery. I find making paint with my fingers from natural clay, plant dye and rocks to be a lovely ritual. I touch the materials from the earth to create imagery about deep connection to place. The process is tactile, meditative and meaningful. It is slow art that includes earth, time and much of the maker’s hand in every piece.