Artist's Statement - Bio
Representing the beauty of this world we live in, is my objective. There are so many ugly, unhappy and upsetting things happening that, as an artist, I want to emphasize and recreate the beauty, as I see it.
The natural world is my passion. Many people have expressed their opinion of how we need nature around us to be balanced and happy and well adapted human beings. If I can, through my art, bring nature into peoples' lives and homes, I have reached my goal. The "feeling" of a specific scene "speaks" to a specific person and by looking at it daily, that person will find happiness and joy for years to come ! To quote George Steiner: "Great works of art pass through us like storm-winds, flinging open the doors of perception, pressing upon the architecture of our beliefs with their transforming powers. We seek to record their impact, to put our shaken house in it's new order. Through some primary instinct of communion we seek to convey to others the quality and force of our experience."
My family has been living in, what is today called the Republic South-Africa, since the late 17th century, but my husband, myself and our two sons started a new life in Colorado in 1996. I have always drawn and painted for enjoyment and then in 1993 started working professionally in S.A. During 1998 I entered the art world of the Front Range of Northern Colorado, struggling with the yearning for Africa and embracing the beautiful new world I was living in.
I am primarily self-taught but have attended workshops and classes over the years. Awards won in summer of '08 include 2 People's choice awards and 3 Merit awards at various shows. My work is in various private collections mainly in the US, but also in the U.K and S.A. My last solo show was at the Firehouse Art Center in Longmont in July/Aug 2009 titled "Warriors".
I believe we should teach our children to draw, as we teach them to write. To be able to draw, one has to observe, and once we really "see", we can love, appreciate and value better. Wouldn't it be wonderful to live in a world where everyone values and loves it !!!!!!
