QYou paint a lot of cats. What do you like about them as subjects?
AMy cat paintings started as portraits of people who loved cats. I was fascinated by what people loved. Then the paintings evolved into animals that represent humans. I look for human emotion where it's unexpected, and cats capture that so well. I paint other animals as well. But cats have something special about them that people can associate with.
QWhich painting have you reiterated the most?
AIf I do an image more than once I make two paintings. But perhaps I will one day make more. I work from the same image or a similar image. Sometimes when a single painting sells that I wish to pair with another painting later for a concept, I make a new painting from the same image research, but I make it with new techniques, or I play with the composition or color. Otherwise, I would get bored.
Sometimes the differences aren’t apparent to the viewer, but are significant to me. For example, my painting of a cat sleeping up against a mirror has been made two times. The first one sold right away, but I didn't feel finished with it emotionally so I made a second one. The second one has now been in many shows and I hope to make some affordable prints of it with Du-Good Press.
QSome of the animals in your paintings are posed in ways that seem human, or a sort of product of a domestic life. Do you think of them as people?
AYes. I see them as representative of people. When I paint my ideas in animal form it opens up the ability for the viewer to see themselves more easily in the painting. I consider everything I paint to be a portrait, meant to make the viewer see themselves within or in relationship to the painting.
QHow do you decide when to allow for abstraction in your work?
AI let the abstraction dictate when to remain. It's subconscious. When a fatty blob of paint works, I fall in love. Or when my hand elongates a shape, I embrace it. When a good texture and color combo gives me a feeling I might go extra with it. I like to take something small and make it smaller. If it makes me smile, I keep it.
QWould you say that your paintings are vulgar? Do you enjoy confronting constructs of what is “indecent” or “gross”?
AI do not consider my paintings vulgar in theory. I understand some may think of my paintings as vulgar, indecent, or gross. I want those people to question why they feel that way. I'm also changing the topic of the original image with a topic of a beautifully painted image. I'm asking the viewer to question their reaction and question why I am painting it.
QWhere do you find inspiration?
AI find my inspiration in mundane, everyday sources. Everything from the news, current events, books and philosophy, to personal internal and external conversations and human interactions. From there I start researching source images. I use old magazines, news articles, Instagram, and films.
I take pictures too, but It's not the same as finding the perfect image to represent what I have been feeling and thinking. There is magic in finding yourself in a found image. It’s much more interesting to me because I'm connecting with a person I may never know. And then when I paint it and someone new connects to my interpretation of that image, I feel like I have finished a sentence that the universe asked me to finish. It’s a communication and connection through images and emotions that words cannot do.
QDo you have a person you trust that critiques your work?
AI have a few friends that get me and help me see myself. I think it is so important when you need help taking a step back from your work. My favorite piece of advice from a friend was, “You can't be afraid when painting.” I repeat that a lot in my head and to my students.
