Etta Creative Foundation
Higher Ground, 2024. Graphite & oil on wood panel, 20x16". For the second year in a row my work has been graced by an Etta Creative Infusion Grant. I'm grateful for these funds to support my ongoing endeavors as an artist and as a contribution to resources for the PHF Hospice Commission. The Foundation helps "artists, composers and writers achieve the beauty of their dreams".
Real Vision
Hope Hospice Center
Reflections I (detail), 2025. Graphite & oil on wood panel, 36x24". It has been an enormous honor to complete a large scale commission for Missoula's new Hospice located at 3615 Union Pacific Street. Reflections I & II are constituted by seven inter-related panels and will remain on view in the Hope Center. For more information call 406.532.3200 or visit their site: partnershopefoundation.org
Artist's Statement
As a narrative painter my objective is to present the essential elements of a story: a character or two, a sense of place and time, a moment of connection, tension or reflection. I seek figures, symbols and scenarios that are both personally compelling and socially relevant. With careful measures of clarity and ambiguity, I hope to create imaginative space for viewers to bring their own perspectives and experiences into the tale. One of my supreme joys is hearing stories that arise in response to the paintings.
Thematically I am concerned with traditions, stereotypes and myths that shape identity as well as relationships to home and family, to work, community and place. I explore these with equal interest in the actual and the metaphorical, striving always to combine convincing naturalism with provocative symbolism.
