About

Bio
b. 1984, Fairfax, Virginia, U.S.

I was an outdoor child, a relic from the era before cell phones. I played with frogs and turtles and tramped through mud. Gardening, nature walks, and scenic drives were how my father and grandmother passed down their knowledge and entertained me. They each contributed to my early creative inclination by modeling their own creativity and passions. They taught me to pay attention to and appreciate the world around me. My creative appreciation of the world first manifested as a passion for SLR photography. I exhibited photographs in competitions as a kid, but I always knew I wanted to paint. The tactile quality of paint and working directly with my hands is what I yearned for most.

I delayed college for a time and pursued administrative work. I eventually returned to my desire to paint and attended Sandhills Community College in Southern Pines, NC. Graduating with an Associate Degree in fine arts summa cum laude, I transferred to an art school in Washington, DC, where I gave my transfer studies a try but became frustrated with how little time I spent actually painting while in art school. I left school to continue my art education on my own terms. I worked professionally in art galleries for a few years while continuing my studio practice.

Today I work out of my home studio in Baltimore, Maryland, where I have access to dozens of natural resources and special hikes. I share a love for the outdoors and hiking with my husband and many of our favorite places inspire my work.

A statement about my current work and painting practice:

There is much overlap between my creative practice and my Jewish spirituality. Hakarat HaTov, the Jewish tenet of looking for the good, is my inner compass and drives how I perceive and interact with the world. As a chronic overthinker, looking for the good grounds me in the present. I slow down and take in my environment, finding visual inspiration and wonder in the everyday details. This journey is translated in my art.

I approach painting my subjects with a sense of urgency, seeking to capture not only the subject but also the feeling of a moment in time. I like to say I’m pursing fleeting moments with a paintbrush in hand!

I primarily focus on flowers and the landscape as subjects, using my senses to slow down and take in the details before me. Combining present inspiration with the happy memories of my outdoor childhood, I tell my story using color and texture.

I enjoy sitting quietly with the subject and sometimes draw contours for a few minutes, grounding my practice with observation. Then I move to translating the felt experience into visual form using paint. This process leans heavily on expressive mark-making and play. As an expressive painter, I place equal importance on feeling as I do form. The experience of creating the painting also becomes part of the story and I don’t paint to compose a perfect scene, I paint to communicate my experience of feeling and finding the good.