What word would you use to describe yourself?
Harmony. As humans, finding your own personal harmony is different for everyone. It can be 2 different paths but that's why I love all kinds of people. I have so many friends from so many different backgrounds. I don't try to enforce my ways or life on anyone. I am on my own path in life, and I enjoy interacting with others and their paths. I have learned to channel my energy and pick up on others' energy around me and produce the art that it creates. I get to create something you have never seen before, something that I have never seen before, and now we have something that we can admire and appreciate.
Why art?
Writers will record history, builders will build fascinating buildings, and artists will create art. We all specialize in something intentional to leave this world. It comes from deep inside and manifests itself into reality. Art is subject to what people like and don't like. When art speaks to you, it speaks to something in your past, speaks to an experience, or makes you feel a certain emotion. That is the beauty of art.
For me there is no separation from art to the artist. The art is a part of the artist and its path in life that led to its existence. It's from there that someone can take that art and carry on into their journey in life and make it what they want. When they leave this world, that art will hopefully go on to another person and have an impact on their life in a different way. I would like to see my art live on through me and through the others that have collected it onto the generations to come.
What is your artist statement?
This statement has changed a lot over the years. This is usually the first thing people ask. It's really my life. I have learned to be tuned into my art and it is embedded into my life's work. I think artists should be in tune with what they produce in their art. People ask me to paint certain things all the time, but I like to paint what I see and feel into my art. It is much more than just a painting. I like to take away all the language, all the material, and really create something from my soul into the world. My art is the combination of the feelings, people, and the environment around me that clash together and finds itself in the form of art. My life is a story, and my art is a story. It is a story that someone else can draw energy from and implement it into their life.
What is one of your favorite stories from art?
I started creating Prairie Chickens a few years ago. I came across them and found out they were an endangered species. I thought that these paintings would be hard to sell or would be hard for someone to relate to. I didn't really think anything would ever come of it but I felt a calling to do it. I thought this was a chance for me to give them a voice. So I began creating paintings of them and I was contacted by the Audubon Society. They are a non-profit dedicated to the conservation of birds and their natural habitats. The next thing I know, I am on a tour selling these paintings, going to bird festivals, and traveling across the country. Following that path led me to a great experience and helped give Prairie Chickens a voice. That is what life is all about. The journey that leads people, animals, and nature into a better place. I feel like people don't take certain paths because they have predetermined notions of what will happen. In reality, you have to follow that path and only traveling that path will tell you what it looks like. I love leaving the world in a better place with my work.
