Soft pastels make me as giddy as a child with a new pack of Crayons. Far messier than Crayons, their tactile nature is a key part of what engages me about the medium. Coming to pastel from the world of watercolor, I was agog at the immediate gratification of pure, vibrant color. I still often underpaint with watercolor and allow some translucency to shimmer through the pastel. The technique works well with the subjects I’m attracted to: doors, windows, gates ~ tantalizing in their mysteries, possibilities, longing.

As a native Texan and an Arizona resident for 25 years, my sensibiliti...

Soft pastels make me as giddy as a child with a new pack of Crayons. Far messier than Crayons, their tactile nature is a key part of what engages me about the medium. Coming to pastel from the world of watercolor, I was agog at the immediate gratification of pure, vibrant color. I still often underpaint with watercolor and allow some translucency to shimmer through the pastel. The technique works well with the subjects I’m attracted to: doors, windows, gates ~ tantalizing in their mysteries, possibilities, longing.

As a native Texan and an Arizona resident for 25 years, my sensibilities are grounded in the American Southwest. The textural attributes of sanded paper and pastel sticks lend themselves to the arid magic of the desert, adobe, earth and boundless sky. I want to capture those moments that have tripped some artistic trigger in me, and the pure pigments of pastel afford me the freedom to do that.