I sought out a gentle, dedicated teacher whom I trusted. She is the highly-regarded
What Pat taught me was to just paint through the lumps and bumps of my life.
I scratched, sanded, wiped away, burnished in, slopped paint, and pushed out these
There came a point in my painting when my dedication to purely representational or
slightly impressionistic art lost interest for me. I seemed to be painting the same
scenes and objects over and over. I was also bored by my beloved watercolors.
I had even started to overuse watercolor to create something akin to acrylic. I definitely
needed to mix things up and to find a new way to challenge myself artistically.
artist and life coach Pat Mattina. At about the same time, life also handed me
some Herculean challenges with family health issues. My time was about to be
stretched between the two worlds of art and family obligation.
I learned to make "piles of paintings". I began to experiment with acrylic, gesso,
and all forms of mixed media. The relationship between form, color and light
was all I cared about. There was no need for representation. My paintings got
large, and new patterns formed that I could investigate through my new tools.
Some days the family's health issues took me away, and some days I could only
paint a couple of strokes. Other days I threw myself into the work for hours,
which served as therapy to get through horrific family traumas.
new creations. The works here are the result of many hours of "making piles," as
Pat is so fond of saying. I do hope you enjoy the best of the "piles."