My studio is like a vital organ. When I enter it, I feel that I can breathe. The walls are covered with elements of interest: images torn from magazines, photos, small drawings, print proofs, protest posters, show cards, x-rays, the paw prints of a favorite dog, dried plants, scraps of paper with favorite quotes, like these: 

 

“You have to be emotional about your work or it will become intellectual. There is plenty of time for intellect when it is done. Intellect shouldn’t be the center it should be the skin.”

Ray Bradbury

 

“Trust your own judgment no matter how bad it is.”

Jacob Kainen

 

“Important Lessons: look carefully, record what you see. Find a way to make beauty necessary; find a way to make necessity beautiful.”

From Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels

 

And then there are the objects... nests, lots of nests of all varieties; bones and skulls; roots; books, lots of books. These artifacts and fragments of the world around me inspire my work in figures and plant forms, roots and rivers, skin patterns and land topography.  

 

And at the heart of it all is my passion for drawing.