Five women artists:

My journey as an artist has not afforded me the opportunity to travel to large metropolitan cites or distant counties, but I have traveled a long way as I have moved closer to my center and deeper in my understanding of my own place as an artist and my own place called home.

Though I have not pushed quickly through time zones, I have studied the “bend in time” while painting the arched curve at the river’s edge. Also, I have not seen the jungle’s wild secrets, but I have grown deep in my appreciation of the wild in all creatures, as I have painted the nonchalant strut of my cat. And, I never have to travel a greater distance than my own backyard to appreciate the purple edge of summer’s shade as I brush a stream of pigment across the cotton fabric landscape.

I don’t apologize for these simple sojourns of mine. They are spirit walks – best accomplished with a sketchbook and a sharpened pencil in hand. My paintings have been described alternately as serene and delicate, or fluid and colorful. But I don’t always begin with this intended meaning when I created theses works. I just want to describe my journey and record my visual world, much the way a writer capture thoughts in a journal.

In addition, I believe that color is similar to the vibrations in music. The color’s sound can radiate across the room and vibrate around a viewer much the way music does for the listener, and like music; this tone can alter and even heal the spirit. Like any art form, painting is about craftsmanship and the study of the more formal aspects of painting as well as the spiritual. This study is always unfolding and changing. I appreciate the study, discipline, and the craft of making art because of this process of unfoldment. However, each time a new question is asked, more questions arise, and the journey goes on, ever farther, ever deeper.

This travel is never taken alone; though sometimes it is lonely sit in a studio without a friend or a teacher. Fortunately, I share these travels with other artists – many of them just happen to be women. And, we all strive, juggle our schedules, and keep traveling to an unseen but satisfying destination together. Five women artists came together to enjoy, to show, and to share their work. We all live, work, and enjoy this creative journey in Sacramento.