I am a stitch. I run. I obsess. I wobble. I pierce. I function. I heal. I am beauty. I am pain. Beauty is not merely a characteristic of my work, but its force and voice. Intimated by pain. Spoken with vulnerability. Propelled by compassion. A trail which acknowledges our complexities and finds a way to release them. An invisible embrace which awakens the heart and silences the mind. I play out this infinite dialogue with fabric and thread, paint and pencils - materials that have been my solace since the beginning of my own physical and emotional pain. They seem to speak a hypnotic language which provides some sort of escape. And they cover me like a giant hand-made “Helen” quilt full of strength and safety. The work also attempts to realign beauty with truth. In a society over-informed by “reality”, beauty seems to have lost its mystery. Shelved as a shallow and material frivolity. My process is one of intuition. This is not to say it is exclusively an impulsive act. But one in which I must trust the tools I have acquired for making art and rely on my gut reactions to guide the process. Lines dance. Scratches reveal. Thick layers hide. Passages of thread, repetitive marks and color interweave like the strips of a quilt. I attended Washington State University and received a B.A. in Fine Arts with emphasis in painting and graphic design. Recently, I have also studied painting and printmaking at Pratt Fine Arts Center and SAFA. My studio is in Seattle, Washington.