Observing the hidden natural world grounds my work. I look for patterns, textures and tiny stories in my surroundings. My work asks the viewer to slow down and be present to the details, with a narrative that reveals itself slowly, sometimes through text and images, other times only with color, pattern, image and book structure. My color palette ranges from bright, vibrant oranges and reds, to subdued earth tones, depending on concept. Documenting, recording, cataloguing my interactions with others and my surroundings links different sections of my work together conceptually, as I uncover what I discover walking out-of-doors.

I constantly ask myself, what is wilderness, what is wildness? Can I find it equally in a city street as a forested landscape? How can I draw attention to the fragility of the earth, and call myself and other to action towards protecting wilderness and wildness places within and without.

Walking and wandering grounds my practice as an artist. My work is about trusting the way and understanding the many paths to get to the same destination literally and figuratively. Some are direct others are tranquil. Some avoid obstacles. Some keep one’s moral compass in mind. And others are just variety and keep your mind alert for new things. I define this as cultivating a wilderness state of mind. WILDERNESS MINDSET means accepting that wilderness is about being present to the unpredictability of life, the knowledge that while we think we are on a safe path walking in the New England forest, a black bear could appear out of nowhere. Or your trust in your reality can be jolted when a person decked out in 17th century finery emerges from around a corner during Carnevale in Venice.

At first glance, the work may not seem related, but as you examine the work you will see threads of the above statement that unites everything I make.