. mediums used
. techniques
. inspiration
. art training
. site design
. font

. donations

mediums used
I primarily paint in watercolor, though when I do paint in acrylic, or water-based oils I usually add so much water anyway. I have some pieces that are chalk pastel, etchings, engravings. On the computer, I will do a mix of traditional and digital art. I also take photographs which are found here.

techniques
I paint primarily with watercolors (Windsor & Newton tubes) on hot-pressed Arches watercolor blocks, in usually 12 x 16, 14 x 20 and 18 x 24 inch sizes. I don't use brushes much, but a palette knife, lots of water and granulation fluid. I add gloss to the finished painting with gum arabic, or if it is an acrylic painting, gloss and sometimes varnish. I move the paper around and let the paint dance for the spontaneous effects.

inspiration
I am very, very picky about what art & writing I like. My favorite artists are the Symbolists, post-Impressionists, Pre-Raphaelites, Paul Klee, Julia Margeret Cameron, the Glasgow Four (especially Frances McNair and Margaret MacDonald), Marc Chagall, Leonara Fini, Gustav Klimt, Odilon Redon, Gustav Moreau, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Arthur Rackham, Kai Nielsen, and Edmund Dulac. To a lesser extent, also: Diego Rivera, Alphons Mucha, William Blake, Marc Chagall, Leonara Fini, Edvard Munch and John Atkinson Grimshaw. I am also heavily influenced by Tibetan thankghas, Asian & Indian paintings, medieval illuminated manuscripts, and spiritual/religious art in general. Some of my favorite contemporaries are Beth Bajema, Karla Moreira, Nemo, Reinhard Schmid, Kris Waldherr, Deborah Koff-Chapin, Astra, Julie Higgins, Cherry Sweig, Suza Scalora, Mara Friedman, Krista Lynn Brown, Ragen Mendenhall, Brian and Wendy Froud, and William Winden.

My favorite fiction and creative non-fiction writers include: Edwidge Danticat, Jeanette Winterson, Kathryn Harrison, Yxta Maya Murray, Laura Kassichke, Hermann Hesse, Marguerite Duras, Simone de Beauvoir, Anais Nin, Edith Wharton, Toni Morrison, Jamaica Kincaid, Jon Krakhauer and Kahlil Gibran. Some of my favorite non-fiction writers have been Robert Johnson, Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, Barbara Walker, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Nor Hall, Angeles Arrien, Monica Sjoo and Barbara Moor.

My friend observed that when I paint, I create a "sacred magick circle" around myself. I often do so with music, incense, candles, prayer. Some of the music I listen to and feel most inspired by is the Bulgarian Women's Choir, chants, ethnic and tribal music, Dead Can Dance, the Cranes, Peter Gabriel/old Genesis, Tori Amos, Led Zeppelin, some Enya, some Cocteau Twins, some classical music.

art training
I have taken a handful of art classes at the Evergreen State University and Humboldt State University. Most of my skills are self-taught. I have never taken a watercolor class. Having an artist mom probably helped though. She taught me to see. I wanted to "be an artist" when I was 4. I discovered writing and illustration when I illustrated my first book, The Pegacorn (a combo of the Unicorn and the Pegasus) at 9, when I realized there was nothing more I wanted to do than write, paint and help the world in some way.