Artist Statement
Inspired by all things handmade, specifically objects and spaces created by my family as well as the memories contained within them, I paint landscapes, interiors, and still lifes to communicate the importance of place. My recent paintings have been a deep-dive into my appreciation of handmade, modestly-curated spaces and the powerful effect they have on the spaces we inhabit as well as what they reveal about the person who created them.
My creation technique combines painterly realism with moments of impressionism so my paintings feel convincing from a distance and alive up close. Careful attention to atmosphere, value, chroma, and texture allows me to convey the history and significance of these places and objects in a vivid and immersive way. I want the viewer to smell the room, feel the warm breeze, and take relief in being transported into my work.
My process for larger paintings starts with a washed-in sketch, moving on to a values-only under-painting, and then a scrub-in of color assignments to the whole piece. Lastly, I spend most of my time laying down the final layers of paint taking great care with placement of carefully mixed colors and varying textures to successfully create a convincing, almost sculptural painting that draws you into my world.
In between work on large paintings I enjoy creating a smaller painting alla prima to both break up my workflow and as a necessary brain refresher before delving into the next big project. This studio practice helps keep my paintings of all sizes feeling fresh and alive.
For my interiors specifically I draw from two skills in my painterly toolbox: the landscape painter’s attention to space, depth, and atmosphere, and the still-life painter’s sensitivity to the beauty of everyday objects to effectively execute my vision.
I would love for my paintings to draw the viewer in close to get lost in the beauty of the oil paint and walk away with an appreciation of the role craftsmanship had in its creation.
my full-circle journey to fine art
Let's go waaay back
In order to understand my 'what' and 'how' requires an all-encompassing look at my 'why' and how it has remained consistent throughout all my years in both cake and fine art.
Making something for others to enjoy goes back to when I was little. My first memory of this is going to the grocery store with my mom and eyeing the pastry case and pleading for the Cookie Monster cookie sandwich filled with way too much blue frosting and white googley eyes. On one of the rare times I was able to have this treat, and as the aproned person behind the counter handed me the cookie, I realized that it was their job to make these amazing cookies, and how cool is that. I was in kindergarten at the time and much too young to formulate a career path but the memory stayed with me enough to connect the dots 35 years later.
Growing up we had a set of children's Encyclopedia books and I loved the specific volume titled ‘Make and Do.’ It was filled with arts and crafts of all kinds showing how to make anything out of everyday objects, and I wanted to make it all. As a family we did lots of crafts growing up and a specific one I can recall was creating an angel from a terra-cotta pot. My first thought upon completion was that Grandma would love this. And sure enough, upon receiving it she put it right in her kitchen windowsill, a prominent display location in Grandma's house for sure. It was a joyful and fulfilling moment for me as a young artist.
My younger days were also spent baking with my both of my grandmas making their recipes and then sharing at family gatherings. Yet another creation and sharing moment was when it was someone’s birthday in our house, Mom would pull out the Wilton cake book and we would choose what 1980s style cake we wanted for our birthday and then she’d help us in it’s creation. Baking became another form of art as well as realizing my joy in sharing my creations with others.
Fast forward to college, where art was the only major I ever considered, to my first jobs making ice cream cakes and custom cakes. Then on to starting my own cake business and finally building our own brick and mortar cake shop with my husband, Tyler. My favorite part of the cake shop was spending hour after hour creating cakes and baked goodies to fill the display cases so that the next morning it would be bursting with frosted treats for more families to bring in their kids to admire and purchase in hopes that I have facilitated them in making their own memories in sharing something handmade.
My current paintings are nearly all created with the palette knife, which allows me to sculpt an image; a process that is rooted in my cake decorating experience. Painting with a palette knife is a more familiar artistic process for me than line drawing, for example. It allows me to maintain abstract shapes and colors longer in order to make a scene come to life before getting bogged down with lines and details.
To sum it up: baking and crafting have inspired me to be both a maker and an artist. In turn, my formal training in the fine arts has greatly influenced my cake design. Today I feel I have come full circle focusing on my fine art full time but now with a more refined approach influenced by my time as a cake artist. This also comes with a renewed appreciation and meaning for all things handmade.