Below you will find a brief synopsis of my artist philosophy and education.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
- Albert Einstein

There is no greater profession than to be an artist. To be an artist is to be a god; you show glimpses of your soul to others. Art is a universal language.There are many purposes art serves, and an artist with vision cannot be legislated into a single one of them. Many styles/modes of expression are necessary to convey the vast array of human experience.

My art is an attempt to inspire, reflect personal values, or to make the viewer think/feel. A person should be changed by having seen a piece of art. Painting is the cheapest form of travel available to me: it takes me places that could not exist in our reality. What frustrates me are the unwritten rules so many artists unknowingly ascribe to. Why should logic ever enter into the picture? Light doesn't need to obey the laws of physics. Why only one horizon line? Why must pictures be square or rectangular? Logic doesn't need to exercise its rigidity on my creativity. I'm not interested in McArt. I don't want to paint a horse in a field unless I can paint it blue and set it on fire. There is so much ugliness in the world I choose to use my art to remind people how gorgeous the human soul can be, how limitless. Michelangelo said, “it is the eye that judges”, he was right. I'm always seeking new ways to express myself. Ultimately, I believe the measure of an artist isn't merely the work that s/he produces, but also the work s/he inspires which is why I teach, and am teachable.

Art is who I am; not what I do. I caught the bug early: the moment I picked up a red lipstick and improved my parents' virginal white walls. My great grandmother (Clara Pottinger) was also an artist; she was taught by Victoria's own Emily Carr. I graduated from high school having won the Ruth King District Art Scholarship, and then from UVIC's education program (with distinction) majoring in art and English. I have had the privilege of being a teacher for more than fifteen years working in the public and private systems. In Maple Ridge, I chaired the A.R.T.'s (Artists Round Table) for a year, and contributed to Cythera House's Art Melodique for three years. Currently, I am a middle school art teacher, and I paint, tattoo, and create murals at my leisure.