From the Artist

Sumi-e art is said to flow from the artist’s heart, down the arm, onto the brush and onto the paper. Sumi-e artists have to be “focused” because they do not use pencil lines to guide them but rather their heart and chi (energy) within them. It is this intimacy that connects with the viewer.

I am an emotional painter who loves surprises. When I paint I stand in order to get the most power from the movements of my arm.

My husband planted black bamboo and a recent storm delivered a perfect bamboo pole stashed among weeds. My brushes fit into the hollow opening and it has become my “weapon of choice” when I want to put the power of my whole body into a painting. When I stare at scary white paper on my floor with a load of black ink on my brush I think it must be akin to the feeling one gets before jumping out of an airplane. Depending on my mood and what is in my heart, the splash of ink on paper will either be a trash liner, graceful, or wabi-sabi (Japanese term for beautiful in its imperfection).

I want the viewers to have their own emotional connections to my paintings. Painting in this manner allows them to relate to their own experiences and answer their own questions rather than art that is “perfect” where answers are already told.