Photography is primarily a hobby for me but I love taking pictures to use either as reference for a painting, or in graphic design pieces that I would create using Adobe Photoshop. When I am using the camera creatively I like to look for interesting angles and color. I am most inspired by architecture, nature, and people.
Drawing is a new challenge every single time. It allows me to really examine and study the subject I am drawing. When I draw I feel present and in a close relationship with the subject. I enjoy pushing the contrast in my drawings.
Painting for me is a transcendental experience. It is a freeing and liberating escape, I can get lost in it. I do not need to have a specific subject matter for painting to be satisfying. Creating a color study can be as rewarding to me as creating a landscape. I love the entire process; mixing colors, applying brushstrokes, and deciding how to visually communicate what I see or feel onto the canvas. Painting is intoxicating.
Drawing from life can be very intimidating but I find it to be the most intimate vehicle to transfer emotions.
When I create graphic designs my program of choice is Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop is the equivalent of an artists’ paradise. There are infinite possibilities for creating in Photoshop. I love every facet of the program but I especially like to redraw or paint from a photograph and also to make selections of images and collage them into a new design.
Illustration is a variation of drawing which for me is typically more light-hearted and decorative.
In this section I showcase most all of the “other” mediums that I enjoy dabbling in. I delight in tearing up old magazines to reassemble the color pieces into a new art piece and sometimes will paint right over top of the collage for a mixed media piece. Block printmaking is another process that I partake. I love the edgy look that a cut design creates and the unpredictability of the ink transfer.
In addition to teaching at Lutheran High School La Verne, I also design and create the artwork for brochures, advertisements, announcements, or other items needed to meet all of the schools’ recruitment and marketing needs.
I have had the pleasure of meeting numerous gifted artists in my 11 years of teaching art at Lutheran High School. I am continually enamored with the creativity and talent that these young artist have to share. It is so rewarding to me to witness a young artist who may not yet realize their ability gain confidence through guidance and encouragement. I also love to see such a variety of interpretation and style. It is my honor to showcase a sampling of these amazing young artists’ works here and also to display a small selection of the types of projects by which I like to teach and inspire students.
