My life as an artist has taken many paths.

 I began this recent journey by taking a different kind of art class. We use no materials and learn no techniques. Instead, every two weeks we spend the class time looking at our current work and discussing strengths, weaknesses, and possibilities.

In this environment, I began working in Pan Pastel. I used this medium to create planes and spheres in an abstract style that a patron described as mid-century modern. My process uses color to convey emotion with lines and shapes generating movement in space. The work was very well received but I was not physically able to continue working at an easel due to chronic pain.

My search for a less physically demanding way to continue developing my ideas into a creative process led me to use Photoshop.  At first, I basically tried to digitally re-create the Pan Pastels, but I found that planning rarely works in my favor. Guided by my critique class, I found the fresh excitement created by the Pan Pastels in a digital medium.

The digital platform gives me so much choice that I’m often overwhelmed. What color do you choose when you can choose any color that you can imagine? Which shapes do you create, when a shape can be shaped into any form that you can imagine? How do you choose a tool when there are drop-down lists of tools that go to the bottom of the screen?

Now that I have the artistic freedom to do whatever I want, I’ve chosen to explore the expression of human emotion via color, shape, and line. Like feelings, my work is abstract.