Through sequential landscape painting, my work creates a record of my experience of sustained engagement with consistently fluctuating environments.
In an outdoor setting there is so much information and many variables that are beyond my control. What does it mean to engage with how these observations add to my understanding and attune my senses to the nuances of the scene? Standing in the same spot, I paint the same space again and again over hours, weeks, months and even years.
Finding a format best suited for each site, I embrace that I am not a machine and I do not register changes the same way that a machine would. I cannot and do not want to capture every detail in a painting. I paint what first captures my attention, therefore, directing the viewer to my individual impression. Whenever there is a noticeable change in its appearance, I record the time, put the painting aside and begin a new panel.
The resolution of the images becomes a direct indication of the pace at which changes occur. Endurance leads to a rhythmic quality in the physical act of painting. It becomes a flow that is indicative of my immersion in a fluctuating environment. Evidence of this flow is shown not only through levels of resolution within a particular day, but also through increasingly decisive brushstrokes as projects continue. Series are installed as a singular piece often in grid-like formats contrasting the irregularity of nature.
Over time possibilities open up to me as an artist. With immersion a field transcends dirt and grass. The nameable objects disappear and are replaced by shifts of colors and abstract shapes vying for my attention before nestling back into obscurity.
Whether it is the color of a tree as the sun rises, the rhythm of sunlight through a forest, a puddle evaporating, or the veil of rain over the landscape, sustained engagement through painting allows me to be open and ready to respond to the unexpected.
As I work, I do not compare the current painting to the previous one. I am fully absorbed in the present. I have faith that the process will result in a genuine record of my experience however subtle or dramatic the visual shifts. Each moment a piece in a greater puzzle.
C.V.
Education
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC M.F.A., Concentration in painting, May 2018 Mount Gretna School of Art, Mount Gretna, PA, Summer 2015 Union College, Schenectady, NY B.A. Studio Fine Arts; minors in Art History and French, June 2012
Exhibition/Recognition History
Solo Exhibitions
2020 Local Sequence, Hastings Gallery, Sandhills Community College, Pinehurst, NC
2021 Fresh Works, Invitational Exhibition, The Galleries, Concord, NC (Upcoming - Re-scheduled due to Covid -19)
2020 6th Annual National Juried Exhibition, Oxford Arts Alliance, Oxford, PA Juror - Steven Harvey Twelfth Annual National Juried Exhibition, Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY Juror - Susan Lichtman 2019 Plein-Air Paintings and Drawings, Juried Exhibition, Lancaster Gallery, Lancaster, PA
Positive/Negative, National Juried Exhibition, Slocumb Galleries, Johnson City, TN Juror - Ann Meisinger
2018 PLEIN AIR, International Juried Exhibition, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
2018 UNCG MFA Thesis Exhibition, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
2020 Fellowship, Four Pillars Residency, Mount Gretna, PA
2016-2018 Thrush Fund Scholarship, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC
2017 Summer Research Assistantship, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 2014 "Honorable Mention" Colorado Plein-Air Festival, Emerging Artist, Denver Public Library, Denver, CO
2013 "Honorable Mention" Print, Paint and Pastel, Juried Show, South County Art Association, Kingston, RI
Charles Alexander Richmond Prize in Fine Arts, Union College, Schenectady, NY
2011 Watson Fellowship Finalist, Union College, Schenectady, NY, (proposal to travel the world studying plein-air and landscape paintings across various cultures)
2020 Artist Lecture, Local Sequence, Hastings Gallery, Sandhills Community College, Pinehurst, NC
Four Pillars Artist Lecture, Mount Gretna School of Art, Mount Gretna, PA (online due to Covid-19)
2018 2018 MFA Thesis Exhibition, Weatherspoon Art Museum
2017 Collateral Events: Catalog Attivo, Greensboro Project Space
Residencies
2020 Four Pillars, Mount Gretna, PA
2018 Salem Art Works, Salem, NY
Juror
April 6, 2017 Student Showcase, Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC
Teaching Experience
Workshops/Demos
2020 Surface Prep, Mount Gretna School of Art, Mount Gretna, PA
University/College Level Teaching
Fall 2020 University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC - Adjunct Professor Drawing I
Spring 2020 University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC - Adjunct Professor Drawing II
Sandhills Community College, Pinehurst, NC - Adjunct Instructor Drawing I, Drawing II
Fall 2019 University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC - Adjunct Professor Foundations of Drawing, Drawing II
Spring 2019 Sandhills Community College, Pinehurst, NC - Adjunct Professor Drawing I
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, Salisbury, NC and Concord, NC - Adjunct Professor Art Appreciation, Art History Survey II
Fall 2018 University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC - Adjunct Professor Life Drawing I, Intermediate Drawing, Painting 2/3, (Tenured - Faculty Replacement)
2017 - 2018 University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC - Instructor on Record Foundations of Drawing (Academic Year)
Fall 2017 University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC - Teaching Assistant Abstraction in the Landscape
Spring 2017 University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC - Teaching Assistant Painting I
Fall 2016 University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC - Teaching Assistant Foundations of Drawing