Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of California, San Diego, 2009. / Title from 1st page of PDF file (viewed Sept. 16, 2009). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references: P. 45-46.

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My paintings are a combination of transparent images merged with paint and wax. As each piece of art develops, the process is the same. The beginning relies on memory or some connection to my past. Then, the progression evolves through a symbolic infancy with an emerging learning experience, which ultimately transforms into a creative piece, along the road less traveled…to the journey’s end. The transparency comes from the image transfer process, which produces a “ghostly” or antique image due to the deteriorated effect of the image in the transfer. The photographic transfers suggest the image without being so bold as to dominate the overall piece of artwork. The encaustic medium that I use to create the surfaces in my work allows me to explore the features of a sculptural medium. I am able to carve into, apply texture, and build up relief on the surface of each piece. The paint hidden in the crevices or layered on the surface adds emphasis and creates focal points in the painting.

My work reflects the change, growth, metamorphosis, duality, and balance that exists in my life. I focus on the process of change and necessity for adaptation. I’m interested in finding balance among the chaos of everyday living. I’m an observer, an introvert, and a thinker. I see and experience opposing forces all around me. Some are simple observations, such as good versus evil, chaos versus order, organic versus geometric, while some are more personal, such as anxiety versus depression, conflict between the inner versus outer self, disorganization versus obsessive compulsive. I’m fascinated by the delicate point at which opposing forces meet to create balance. I use a variety of papers, found objects, fiber, paint, drawing, and stitching to represent things that are picked up along my journey. Using a variety of materials and imagery represents the chaos of life. Editing, rearranging, dissecting, and reassembling these materials and imagery with deliberate choice are a way to balance the chaos I see and experience to take back control.

My work on canvas and in jewelry focuses on the tension between the hard edges of geometric shape and soft lines of organic form. Light plays an important part in the viewing of these opposing forms. It reflects off the shapes and textures creating sharp contrasts and enhancing the individual sections as they relate to the whole. In my paintings, I set organic floral forms against geometric architectural structures. I create texture and contrast by adding digitally enhanced transfers, torn paper, and acrylic putty. In my jewelry, I also set organic forms against geometric shapes, by adding stone, wire, and various types of metal to the raised surfaces. The different textures in both of my focus areas attract and reflect light, allowing the look and character of the piece to change as the light changes.

The world is full of extremes and I enjoy studying the contrasts of these extremes. I am influenced by the soft and subtle, as well as the rough and unrefined. From printing on the most delicate of papers, to constructing objects from scrap metal and reclaimed barn wood, the pieces I produce are studies in contrast. In these works, I place extremes of media next to one another in a way that makes the viewer feel that these opposites belong together. I struggle to make the improbable seem ordinary and the mundane seem amazing.

I use bright colors to portray birds. Typically, the birds are modeled after herons, peacocks, woodpeckers, and roadrunners. I am interested in the curvilinear forms or colorful plumage of these birds. Why birds? I wonder that myself. The rational part of me wants to know why I use bird imagery, while the intuitive side of me likes the fact that if is unknown, I haven't been able to answer that burning question. In my sculpture, wire connectors, kitchen funnels, electrical tape, caps, marker parts, cleaning bottles, and watering cans are just some of the many plastic items I use. In my painting, irregular patterns and bright, saturated pigments are evident in the compositions. I couple humorous and comical depictions of birds with an attention to design. Although art making is a serious activity, I believe there is room for humor.

Artist Statement Creativity is one of my strongest talents. As a visual person, I understand and interpret the world through observation and analysis. Nature intrigues me. I find it awe inspiring how the natural environment can change so dramatically day-to-day. As a result, I record my experiences and memories of landscapes and seascapes. My areas of interest are painting and computers in the arts. I am an abstract painter and my media consists of acrylic, watercolor, mixed media, and digital imagery. I create low relief and rough textures with added materials, and develop layers of paint with a palette knife. In addition, I layer gel medium transfers using my own photographs. Color is important in my work and encapsulates and expresses my feelings and memories. I use subtle color washes and add small amounts of bold color to create contrasts. This approach to coloration allows me to explore unexpected and unique combinations. I use color symbolically, such as a muted blue to display a calm and relaxed feeling that I get from experiencing nature. This also mimics the essence of sky and water. My goal is to capture the viewers’ attention and show them my response to nature in hopes that they will relate it to their own experiences.

This paper explores photography in children’s picturebooks and its ability to extend image-making and reading by creating a hybrid genre that merges real and non-real worlds. In analysing the use of photography in such a hybrid genre, the work of Lauren Child (2006, 2001a, 2001b, 2000), Polly Borland (2006), Shaun Tan (2007, 2000, 1998) and Dave McKean (2004a, 2004b, 1995) is deconstructed. These artists utilise photography in contemporary picturebooks that are fictional. In addition, David Doubilet’s images (1990, 1989, 1984, 1980) are discussed, which fuse underwater photojournalism with art, for factual outputs. This research uncovers a gap in picturebook literature and creates a new hybrid by merging genres to produce a work that is both factual and fictional. The research methodology in this study includes a brief overview of photography and notions of truth, contemporary picturebook trend theory, use of a student focus group, industry collaborations and workshops, and environmental education pedagogy. This thesis outlines summaries of research outcomes, not the least of which is the capacity for photography to enrich narrative accounts by providing multilayered information, character perspectives and/ or a metafictive experience. These research outcomes are then applied to the process of creating such a hybrid children’s picturebook.

This arts-based thesis is a personal account of making sense of loss, embracing emotion, and the cathartic qualities of mixed-media art relying greatly on family photographs. The findings from this will inform my teaching approach and assist budding artists (my pupils) in creating connections by breaking down walls to promote growth of their artistic voice.