“Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time?" That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future.” 

― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

I love being alone in the woods or at the shore. That feeling of nature “bathing” is what I try to bring into my art making. I am inspired by the things I learn about nature and energy thru my practice of Tai Chi & Qi Gong, which are ancient Chinese forms of moving meditation and internal martial art. They teach me how to connect to nature and feel the world instead of just looking at the surface of things. Yin and yang, being and nonbeing, stillness and movement, light and dark, sea and sky, surface and depth, sight and sound, artist and viewer, self and nature - I am interested in exploring how one can see through polarities to sense the invisible and mysterious unity underlying them. I try to share the sense of presence, deep quiet, and dynamic stillness that I find in meditation through my artwork.

I start with images of water that I capture with various digital cameras and lenses. I shoot streams, rivers, lakes, and the sea. I always look for a flow state of mind to match the flowing water when I am out enjoying the serenity of the woods or shore. I approach photography as a Zen art and try to keep my thinking/judging mind and plans or expectations quieted, beginning with a Tai Chi centering practice. In this way every day is a new experience whether I am visiting a location for the first time or revisiting it again and again. The water and the environment are always unique and I concentrate on being present in the “now”. Then I come back to the studio to meditate on the photos and interpret the water in water-based media.

I include Monotype prints, suminagashi marbling, and/or watercolor paintings with the archival pigment prints of the photos in my work. Monotypes are basically ink paintings on plexi that are allowed to dry and then are pulled off with damp rice paper. I also do direct watercolor paintings on rice paper and suminagashi, which is Japanese paper marbling. I begin each painting session with a Tai Chi practice. Ink and watercolor painting are intuitive and expressive for me, in the same way as the Tai Chi form is an expression of my unique state of being each time I practice it.  

Trained as a Fiber Artist, I weave the photos, prints, and paintings together, creating works on paper and panels. The woven paper and panel pieces begin with photographs printed on thin sheets of rice paper. The paper is infused with encaustic wax and two photos or a photo and a painting/print are cut into strips and woven together. More wax is used to mount the weaving onto a panel. The encaustic wax makes the paper translucent and blends the images together, creating a sense of depth and movement which is enhanced by the physical layering developed by the weaving process. Some works include haiku poems.

I also combine all these different image making techniques with various book structures to express my feelings and impressions of different bodies of water, from the waves of the sea, to flowing streams, and waterfalls. Most of my artist books have no text and the images and their sequence tell the story of the beauty and sacredness of water. Occasionally I am inspired to write poems and haiku for certain books. I feel the intimacy of books as an art form is a wonderful expression of the intimate nature of water.

We are made mainly of water; we need water, we enjoy water, and sometimes we succumb to its power and strength. Life on our planet wouldn’t exist without water, and now we need to preserve it everywhere. I hope that my artwork will inspire viewers to notice the water in their lives and surroundings and be inspired to help in that preservation.