An inner fire makes me long to paint, this fire frees my spirit and feeds my mind.  The second I put my brush on canvas or paper my thoughts seem to calm down, as if to focus and make sense ‘of it all’.  This process often results in vibrant, bold colour applications.

When I apply pigment - strokes of vibrant juicy and rich colours - a painting takes shape and I feel that inner glow - brilliant, beaming, glorious, joyful radiance. I forget about time and space, it is like meditating and letting your mind ‘float away’.  Once I finish a painting I feel mostly tired, but happily ‘empty’ as my emotions, my fire and energy got transferred onto the canvas and leaves me refreshed to soak in anew what life has to offer for me.

I always loved to draw, create and paint during childhood, but as my parents were working people they could not afford to focus on my education in visual arts.  However, since an early age I learned to play the classical guitar and trumpet and as people said, I had great talent.  Still, I did not feel that yearning, that fire, the drive as I do now when I paint. I searched for that ‘something’ to fill me, as if I knew I had almost found it in my music.

My approach is very simplified and focused by only using the three primary colours. However, the best available artists paints make it a joy to create a limitless number of different shades, values and colours.  I enjoy to paint from life.  Often when I paint outside, "en Plein air", I try to capture the moment, the light, the sound and the smell of the air as if to take the viewer with me to the place, but still leave enough room for their own interpretation.  I often paint one shape at a time, finishing one shape before moving on to the next, this way the movement of the sun does not necessarily challenge the painting as I move along.  Plein air painting is focused and fast as weather changes quickly.

As the winters are very cold in New Brunswick, I am forced to paint indoors during the colder months.  During those times I explore new ways of seeing things and try new products and approaches.

As I started in watercolours in 2002, I have now spread my wings to soft pastel, acrylic, and oil.  It opened new horizons for me.  What possibilities! And as I have ventured out,  I find myself coming back to my watercolours, changing to a looser style. 

I want to share with the viewer not only the subject but yes, this is how watercolours look, and also yes, this is how a pastel or oil or acrylic painting looks.  I want to showcase the use of the specific medium, the spontaneity and different ‘flavours’ each brings. For me a good painting is a painting where I look at it and say "yes, this is pastel at its best!".

I am experimenting  with bigger sizes - how big can I comfortably create in watercolour, and how big can I go in pastel or acrylic.

I have been very inspired by some of the greatest ‘plein air’ painters of America when they came to paint for two weeks in St. Andrews in 2008.  Their insight and brushwork were freeing.  I started to focus on simplifying shapes, stripping them down to the pure basics without loosing the subject completely.  Especially with florals I was intrigued and want to work on it more and still showcase the pure beauty of the flower in a contemporary and reduced style.