Studio

I use commercial and  homemade pigments. After grinding or mixing a range of powdered minerals, botanicals, or inks   I suspend the  pigments in walnut oil (to make my oil paint), acrylic medium (for my acrylics) or heated beeswax for my encaustic mediums.

I also use commercial Casein emulsion or paint from Richeson - enhanced with my own powdered pigments.

Years of dyeing fabric and experimentation with sumi painting and suminagashi (floating ink on water) have enhanced my practice. I like combining inks with  oils or encaustics and sometimes use my suminagashi work as a substrate for monotypes.

Walks along the sea bluffs or in local forests often produce inspirational tools for painting. I collect a range of natural materials and add them to my marking tools. 

Because I work on a range of substrates, my tools may include natural bristle brushes, palette knives and silicone scrapers.

Stone is a challenging substrate for encaustic painting. I have developed my own formula to create sculptures on granite, sandstone and bisque-fired stoneware.

I paint encaustic monotypes on a heated (140F - 200F) aluminum plate and "lift" images onto paper or silk. Often, it takes multiple pulls to create the image I'm creating.

In addition, I created paintings on paper with ink, acrylic and waterbed paste pigments.

Seasonal changes in the flora and fauna of my environment, microscopic images, deep space photographs, and interactions between the ocean and land where I live all inspire my paintings.

After decades of land and sea travel - I often return to my travel sketchbooks as references for my large works.