I have been drawing, painting, and making art since childhood, inspired by my mother and other artistic family members. Painting is a natural extension of my lifelong desire to make things — to create something that didn’t exist before.

I am drawn to plein air landscapes and still lifes because both allow me to capture moments that are temporary and precious. Painting outdoors lets me immerse myself in nature, observing how light, color, and form shift from moment to moment. My still lifes often focus on fruits, vegetables, and flowers — subjects with a shelf life, a moment of perfection worth preserving.

My influences span from the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, whose loose, gestural style I admire, to Dutch masters like Vermeer, who captured light and embedded symbolism with quiet precision. I also find inspiration in contemporary painters such as Sara Sedwick and Teddi Parker, whose intentional brushwork captures the essence of a subject.

When painting on location, I look for scenes with compelling shapes, colors, textures, and proportions — a dramatic sky, an intricate tree, or shadows that won’t last. I prefer working from life over photographs; a photo can be a useful reference, but it flattens the image and loses the essence of real light. Painting from life teaches me to truly see, rather than simply replicate.

I often work quickly, especially when painting outdoors, embracing a loose and expressive approach that captures immediacy. In the studio, I may work larger and over multiple sessions, focusing more on intentional composition and brushwork. I paint primarily in oils for their texture, richness, and connection to the traditions of master painters.

My typical palette includes ultramarine, cerulean, permanent rose, magenta, cadmium yellow, lemon yellow, burnt sienna, raw umber, and white, with occasional additions of teal, Payne’s gray, Indian yellow, or viridian. Whether I’m painting locally in Charlotte’s parks, greenways, and waterways or arranging still life compositions that juxtapose natural and man-made forms, I seek to translate color into emotion.

Through my work, I hope viewers can share in the same fleeting moments that inspired me, and reflect on how they experience the beauty and impermanence of the world around them.