About Page

Artist Statement

It seems only natural to me that I work primarily in MIXED MEDIA. My whole life - even my ancestry - seems to involve opposites coming together to form a mystical, sometimes precarious, balance. Artists/sceintists, music to mathmatics, dance & disability, and just being a mixed-blood American Indian salted with Anglo come together to form who I am. The one golden thread that ties all of the previous together is my Christ-centered spirituality. It is this very quilt of elements that is behind every piece of art I create. I hope that my art, like myself, will be able to show you something new everytime you take a look.

My foundations in art began over 20 years ago. Most remembered was something my art teacher told me that would later be echoed by my vocal jazz teacher,"you can only build a beautiful house when the plain concrete foundation is firmly in place." I work in MIXED MEDIA -- acrylic paints with vintage jewelry, reclaimed leathers and other textiles. Even though my work is often figurative, I always notice some of those "foundational rules" pulling the whole piece together. I love storytelling, so every piece I make will tell you something; Nearly half of my pieces deal with the inner world and outer influences of those - like myself - who live with chronic and intractable pain. My "Native Storyboards" use the materials I've mentioned and present folktales from my Cherokee, Choctaw and Mayan heritage. Others tell of the stories we make every day just by being brave enough to live with our whole heart.