Artist Statement

Throughout my years of making art there have been two recurring elements that define my work:  color and wholeness.  Working intuitively and trying to keep a balance between chance and control, I try to create images that convey the pulsing beauty that I experience in the world.  My most successful pieces are those that go beyond what I'm working from and become something new.  I love when this happens.

I work in pastels and color pencils and most recently have been doing reduction linocuts.  While I'm drawn to the sumptuous colors and nuance achievable with pastels and color pencils, I wanted the immediacy and unpredictability that linoleum printmaking affords.  Printmaking is helping me to get more energy into my art. I aim for a jewel-like quality both with size and glowing colors in my work and at their best they communicate a quiet spirituality.           

I'm drawn to artists whose work achieves a sense of spirituality - Giotto, Piero della Francesca, Giorgio Morandi, Mark Rothko, Georgia O'Keefe, Milton Avery, and Wolf Kahn are a few examples.

A Boston native, I relocated to Greensboro, North Carolina in 1991 with my husband, Chris Ruhm.  We have two sons, William and Peter.