a note about me
and about my work
I've always been an artist. At various times in my life I've focused on design, music, painting, performance art, sketching, writing, and ceramics. I've taken many classes in various art disciplines, and have taught quite a few classes as well.
My ongoing fascination is paint - oil and acrylic, with experiments in mixed media. I live for color, and have spent the past year examining dynamic color relationships and how value and chroma play an important role in juxtaposing hues against each other. I also play with transparency, layering maroger glazes to create works of light as the masters did, Rembrandt being a notable example, and have even used his ancient recipe to maximize refractions. I've found modern paint recipes that work similarly and apply transparency techniques to more modern subjects and design.
My subjects are often urban architecture or portraiture, an interesting challenge since I've struggled with face blindness my entire life. I've also worked to refine my approach to figurative representations. My recent color studies led me into a new series of abstract acrylic works, often with a textural element of extruded plaster.
My artistic influences include David Hockney, Chuck Close, Edward Hopper, William Eggleston, David Bowie, Jim Holland, David Arsenault, Michael Carson, and my great-grandfather RJ Wickenden, who was a close associate and contemporary of Vincent Van Gogh in Arles, France, at the turn of the last century.
I was born in Colorado and have lived all over the country as a result of my career in rock 'n roll radio and the music business. My husband David and I now live in Arlington, Massachusetts with our wonderful little dachshund named Penny Lane. I'm fortunate to be able to pursue my interests in art and charity, while my husband's career flourishes as Chief Technology Officer of Mixbook, based in Silicon Valley with branches around the country including Massachusetts.
A creative space to create art is essential - a home environment is not ideal as there are many distractions. I like to paint about 40 to 50 hours every week. It's important to me to work in a community of like-minded individuals who inspire and challenge me as an artist. As a former Umbrella artist, I would love to return to my community of friends and like-minded creatives!