The Story of the Series, Moments

The artwork in this series of paintings titled Moments, are inspired by the moments, both small and large, that influenced my life over the past year. Not only does this collection memorialize instances in time, but also shows my growth as an artist, taking a mixed media approach to some of the artistic styles that I have engaged in during my creative journey. I grew up exclusively drawn to creating art by pencil, and didn’t discover my love for painting until I was an adult. I was too intimidated by the idea of experimenting with color to make a composition come together, but once I let loose, I found a love for it. This collection addresses the early stages in my art career where I leaned heavily into integrating collage work with abstract representational paintings as well as plays into my love for drawing. Ink drawing, specifically, was something I started to embrace as a quick sketch practice to capture my experiences when traveling and out in nature. Each mixed media piece takes on an abstract play on emotions and color palettes inspired by places where specific moments took place. When observing each painting in this series, you are getting a snapshot into aspects of my life that make me, me as well as the foundations I have built to create art that I am truly proud enough of to share with an audience such as yourself.

The Story of the Painting, Lost in the Lights

The moment depicted in this painting comes from Times Square in New York City. This is probably not an unfamiliar feeling to anyone from the Midwest who has the opportunity to travel to the Big Apple, but the lights and the towering buildings take over you as you traverse the city and this is the feeling I wanted to elicit with this piece. The color palette reflects the hues of the city buildings, and lights against the movement of digital billboards and people wandering the streets. I had the chance to visit New York City for a special post-covid graduation trip to explore several of the city's art museums. While this whole series of paintings tell a story all together, this piece in particular is an accompanying piece for Field of Water Lilies and Steel which also was inspired by that trip.