Artist Statement

I paint women standing in archways that open onto skies no real wall has ever had behind it. In one painting, a red-haired woman in a sheer purple gown holds her palm up to a pile of pink and gold storm clouds. In another, a woman stands barefoot inside an Art Nouveau arch with her back to us. This series comes from the fantasy worlds I wish I could join, and the arch is my way in. I like catching the figure right before she steps through, because that's the part where anything could still happen.

I use oil on canvas because it stays wet long enough for me to blend the skies, and I am very picky about my skies. The ombre skies and clouds take many layers of glazing to achieve that seamless look. I also spend a long time creating reference images before I commit to a composition, and I usually test colors digitally first. The arches come from my love of Moroccan architecture, so I change the shape every time. Some are plain and round, one is pointed and wrapped in rust-colored curls, and one is a scalloped window in a sand-colored wall. I keep the walls flat and warm so the blues and purples inside the arch look like a different place entirely.

Most of my women face away, because they're busy looking at where they're going. In Sunset, a dark-haired woman in a white dress grabs a handful of her skirt and steadies herself on the arch as she climbs toward the sky. In Desert Sun, I flipped it. A blonde woman stretches out across the windowsill and stares right back, with a hazy lavender desert and a far-off palace behind her. One painting has nobody in it at all, just a pale pink column next to an empty arch full of stars.