Kind people usually welcome.
I am not new to art; I have always enjoyed it. But I am new to using the title artist as one of the ways I describe myself. It really started in the summer of 2021 when I went to repaint my garage and decided I would attempt to have fun with it and paint a mural rather than do something more traditional - It seemed to fit the space and my vibe. With no training and not much of a plan I started to paint a series of wildflowers, bushes, trees and dancing turtles on my out building and I really enjoyed it.
I found at the end of each session I had small amounts of paint left over from what I prepared for the day…and it felt wasteful. So I started to find ways to use the paint I had left over - and I just started to paint on anything and everything and I quickly became obsessed. As my painting became prolific - people close to me started to encourage me- and I just haven’t stopped.
For the most part I am just using house paint on glass and in the past year have made well more than a hundred of these paintings. I also find objects in the woods; at the Goodwill or garage sales; or just around that inspire me. I transform these objects with simple paint to give them a second life and to bring a level of joy to myself and others who enjoy “art.”
I have found that I need to have a level of passion for the piece I am working on - or it is not worth doing. I very much enjoy starting with the idea that I am painting this piece for a person that I share something with - and then giving it to them.
I don’t often go looking for inspiration- but it often finds me. In natural beauty; in shapes; often in dreams; or in the grime of the city. Most of the time the ideas for my paintings come from a silly phrase I say to myself or a half cocked idea that I’ll just start exploring in my head. I have come to love the process of creating as it provides me energy that I have found in few other places in this existence.
I describe myself as an Erie Kid- although I have migrated to Southern Erie County and then Northern Crawford County when my children were entering elementary school. Now that they have graduated I am returning to the city that I love and work in. I just bought a house on 2nd and Cherry and look forward to putting my energy into making Erie weird, beautiful, caring, vibrant, open, accepting, tolerant, and home for the last one third to one half of my life.
I have always enjoyed the intentional art of the city. Murals, architecture, gardens, green space, good urban planning, when people take good care of their properties, and those funky homes dotted throughout the community.
By profession I am a therapist at Penn State Behrend and in the community. I am constantly encouraging people to tap into their creativity to start to transform themselves.