About The Artist

The short of it:
I draw from nature to inspire subject matter when I paint, and in turn I paint to inspire the curiosity I have in nature. My paintings, acrylic, mostly on canvas or panel, explore negative space, movement, and form as much as they depict flora, fauna, and landscapes of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. There is splendor at my doorstep, and I have known these mountains my whole life, so my subjects are all informed by this place.

The long of it:
My subject matter is nature, and in my paintings I invite you to glimpse the extraordinary in what might be otherwise mundane.
Lines and forms draw the eye across the entire picture plane, hopefully to reveal just as much attention placed on each negative space as the objects in the foreground. Each painting begins with the question “What is it you are trying to show?” The birds - almost always three of them because I like small, odd numbers - are set in place across the canvas, and then given branches like lines in a connect-the-dots activity. The lines of the branches draw the eye to and fro, but it’s only natural to want to see where the eyes of the birds are directed. Their gazes create invisible lines, and you might follow those to treasures hidden in the thicket. In my long-range landscapes I break the picture plane up with shapes of color, and I create movement with the brushstrokes themselves. While my color choices are not precise representations of what I might actually see in nature, they enhance the sumptuousness as I experience it in the studio. Paint is an opportunity to play with color, to push its boundaries and awaken its very essence to evoke serenity or tension in the painting, and determine its entire mood.

I began painting in acrylics out of necessity - working in a small home studio requires a paint medium that dries quickly for easy storage, and isn’t filled with noxious fumes, like oils. I like paint I can almost sculpt with as I push it across the canvas, something more substantial than flowing watercolors. It wasn’t love at first brushstroke - acrylic colors dry darker than they appear when they are first laid down, and they dry incredibly fast, which has made for years of frustrating, unintended outcomes. However, with an idea of what I want from acrylic paint, I have set out on the long odyssey of noble adventures and hardships of embracing an elusive medium. On this road I have discovered great joy in what acrylic paint has to offer - a fast-drying, luscious, almost wily character that taunts me to tame it, yet it still can leave me not fully convinced I have mastered it. Maybe that’s just what it is to make art. How similar it is, then, to the natural world of the Blue Ridge, whose own ancient wild wisdom runs deep, and still surprises me with that which it has to teach. The process of dancing with this paint is as much the subject matter as the finished paintings you see on these walls.

My figure paintings settle deeper into a realm of magical narrative. Mostly depicting women including myself, these paintings explore my identity as a woman and my relationship with nature. A labyrinth of thicket branches instead of a human body. A fluttering, tender wren where there ought to be a heart. I have always loved drawing and painting faces, ever since I was a little girl, and these figures pay homage to that. Some figures are nestled deep in their surroundings; others look more like religious icons. In whatever way they emerge from the canvas or panel, these figures are the tangible bridge to the spirit of the natural world, reminding myself that humans are of nature and not separate from it.

In an age when we humans are more disconnected from nature and its rhythms than ever, I employ my paintings to feed my curiosity in the natural world and my place in it. It is my hope that they do the same for you.

I look to illustrators of children's stories for inspiration, & also Impressionists like Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch post-impressionist, 1853-1890), as well as the Group Of Seven (Canadian landscape painters from 1920-1933). My work is also very heavily inspired by layered patterns found throughout block prints of the Arts & Crafts movement.

I grew up in Banner Elk, Boone, Morganton, & Asheville, North Carolina. I earned my BA in painting at the University of North Carolina at Asheville while also performing traditional & original music on the fiddle & banjo throughout the region. Art & music have been pursued & encouraged for multiple generations in my family. My grandmother, Eleanor Seng, was a painter who studied with Emil Holzhauer, a student of the American painter Robert Henri. My work is found in regional galleries and online, and I participate in various regional art festivals and exhibitions throughout each year. I work from my home studio in Saluda, North Carolina.