The Beginning

I grew up in New Jersey and have lived in major and non-major cities from coast to coast. My earliest memory of falling in love with art was my elementary school art teacher, Ms. Mooney. She was a red-headed Irish woman who did an amazing job making each student feel like a yet-to-be-discovered Picasso. I then remember doing a "correspondence course" - lessons would be sent over snail mail. Then, during high school, I spent one summer at a community college taking a class in computer graphics. I wanted to pursue a career in art, but was afraid of practical things like, how do I make enough money to live on? So, I made the IMPRACTICAL decision to not go to college and instead become a restaurant server for the rest of my life.

As you can imagine, I did not stay on that career path.

Soon, I was able to make the switch to white collar jobs. This led to a receptionist role at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where I decided I needed more in life. I took advantage of the tuition waiver offered to staff and went to night school for a bachelor's degree in business. My career then involved nonprofit work, personal training, cooking, psychology, and seven more eventual years of college.

Those years also involved periods of feast or famine. During the times of famine, I did not practice art ("side" projects are reserved for the privileged), but during times of feasting (or, more accurately, times of non-famine!), I was able to return to my practice.

Media

Using paper as a medium started during the COVID-19 era. My in-laws lived many hours away and my mother-in-law and I decided to engage in a joint creative project that we could unify once we were together again. We found a "quilling" mandala and split it up - I did the outer perimeter and she did the interior. Since then, my work has evolved beyond "quilling." I have been greatly influenced by the beautiful and impactful work of Yulia Brodskaya. Her book, "Painting with Paper," taught me the practice of color blocking the base layer - similar to painting. Similar to Brodskaya, I consider myself to be a painter and my medium is paper.

Beyond painting with paper, I love working with pastels - oil more than pastel - although, often I've been pleasantly surprised by using them in combination. I also continue to experiment with watercolor, alcohol-based markers, ink, acrylic, graphite, etc. The only medium I have largely avoided is oil paint - purely because of the clean-up and my concern about contributing additional chemicals into landfills (e.g., turpentine). However, given my propensity for three-dimensional art work, oil painting does seem like it would be a natural fit. Thankfully, acrylic paint and oil pastels are a adequate replacement for my amateur needs.

Process

I do consider myself to be an amateur, still, but I have noticed one thing that I have in common with more veteran artists. I have very little attachment to the the final product. All of the meaning comes from the process, the journey. Every single piece I have created has had multiple lives. All of them have had previous versions destroyed - sometimes even when it seems like I am close to the end. As it takes shape, I realize at some point that I have become overly engrossed in the details and have lost sight of the bigger picture. Occasionally, this means ripping out at least half of the work, but more often, this means that I start over again and the idea morphs into something different, something better. I enjoy this process, even though it is painful for others to witness. They think the work is beautiful - and it may be, but my concern is not about the level of beauty, by rather, it's alignment with what I want to be expressed.

This is very similar to my perspective as a psychologist - I focus on the process. I believe that it is important for people to engage in their life's journeys in a way that is aligned with their values and vision, because if that does not happen, reaching their final destination will have little worth. The crossroads of art and psychology become obvious when you know more about my motivation behind Emotions I and the Animal Memorials.

Thank you for reading until the end! I hope it was helpful to have this snapshot into my life, my artistic evolution, and my motivation. I am about to start a new collection that is called "The Four Seasons of the Lake Norman Area," which I believe will be four pieces that are approximately 24"x36".

Please feel free to contact me with any comments, ideas for future collections, or pieces you would like commissioned.

I WORK IN VARIOUS MEDIA - MY PASSION LIES IN 3D WORK BECAUSE OF THE OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE AND BUILD UPON THE COMPLEXITY OF MULTIPLE LAYERS. EVEN THOUGH MANY OF THOSE LAYERS WILL NEVER BE SEEN, THEY ARE THE FOUNDATION UPON WHICH EVERYTHING ELSE RELIES; SIMILAR TO THE SYSTEMS OF HUMANS AND RELATIONSHIPS.

WHEN I ACCEPT A COMMISSION, MY KNOWLEDGE AS A PSYCHOLOGIST EMERGES, BECAUSE I EXPLORE THE EMOTIONS AND EXPERIENCES THAT THE CLIENT WANTS TO EXPERIENCE THROUGH THE PIECE.

CONTACT DUG WITH COMMISSION REQUESTS

3D PAPER ART

• MEMORIAL OF ANIMAL FAMILY MEMBERS

• MARKING A LIFE TRANSITIOIN

• REPRESENTATION OF THE IDENTIFY OF YOUR FAMILY, COMPANY, SELF

• EMBODIMENT OF A MUSICAL PIECE

DIGITAL ILLUSTRATIONS