"We are not meant to
celebrate ... or suffer ... alone."
--Stefanie A. Shilling
Why do I write or paint? Connection.
Connection to a part of myself, connection to those around me.
I believe art is an extension of oneself,
an offering, a moment in time.
And, for me,
art is a way of finding my way to the essence of who I am
and what my existence
means to the world.
My process is a dance between the paint, brush and canvas,
or between the pen and paper,
and my own energy.
It is very much an intuitive process that is often steeped in emotion.
I wrote my first poem at age nine
and have been a writer ever since.
But in 2010, in the throes of mothering my two young children,
I set down my pen and picked up a paintbrush for the first time.
I fell in love with the
freedom that painting offered,
in contrast to the structure of writing.
It fed a part of my soul
that I didn't even realize was hungry.
Today, the pen and paintbrush
share custody
and usually fight for attention.
One way or another, the art gets out.
I love and live in the Pacific Northwest.
​
(You may read some of my poetry here: