For some 30+ years I made paintings that were inspired by the Maine landscape. Throughout those years I was a wife and mother while maintaining my studio and having annual shows, primarily in Maine.

 

In 2012 my life took a sharp turn away from domesticity and I found myself searching. Part of the learning process was adjusting to children growing up and leaving home, while other aspects challenged me in unexpected ways. I began to see dramatic changes and unfamiliar imagery appear in my paintings. The work on view here reflects a period of untethered exploration. This sense of liberation on so many fronts also came with feelings of isolation and fear.

 

I  have named this "Calligraphic Series" as there are handwritten passages etched into the initials layers of each image. The writing expresses thoughts and emotions that I experienced during this period of change.

 

Many artists speak of the loneliness of the creative process. This quote from Edith Wharton’s 1893 short story, The Fullness of Life, resonates with me:

 

“I have sometimes thought that a woman’s nature is like a great house full of rooms: there is the hall, through which everyone passes in going in and out; the drawing-room, where one receives formal visits; the sitting-room, where the members of the family come and go as they list; but beyond that, far beyond, are other rooms, the handles of whose doors perhaps are never turned; no one knows the way to them, no one knows whither they lead; and in the innermost room, the holy of holies, the soul sits alone and waits for a footstep that never comes.”