Biografia
ABOUT ME
Born: Honolulu, HI
Education: BFA, Drawing and Painting - University of North Texas
Painting, Drawing - Scuola Lorenzo De'Medici, the Art Institute of Florence in Florence, Italy
I am an artist specializing in contemporary figurative oil paintings and drawings. Nothing excites me more than applying and blending layers of oil paint to creating realistic, visceral, luscious, provocative images of the human form. My visual technique consists of layering a combination of staged photographs and manipulated found images to compose new staged, artificial narratives.
As a child of the military and the granddaughter of Dutch immigrants, I have always been caught between continents. I spent the earliest part of my childhood in Germany, living in three cities within the span of five years. It was all I knew until we were sent to highly conservative southern Alabama, my first cognizant taste of American, non-military life. I have 'settled' in Texas after the Army sent my family here when I was a young teen. After shuffling back and forth from the US and Europe, moving away for my education and finally choosing my own city - funky Austin, Texas - I have moved 9 times... so far.
Painting and drawing have always been my calling. Everyone around me has always known that I would be an artist, including my parents, who wholeheartedly supported my decision to be an artist from day one. I studied under several great painters in art school, and I had the opportunity to study art in Florence, Italy for four months. My work is now in private collections throughout Texas, including Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio, as well as Florence, Italy.
