My work evolves from my sense of adventure and my travels to unusual places . This stimulates my experimentation with various media . Becoming one with my environment through the heightening of my senses creates an iconic image in my mind .
When my senses are open , I see the essence of the nature of things ; the bent of a particular tree , the way light falls upon water , the culture of the people . I hear their music , taste their food and smell the air . All these things have texture , rich layers of life that exude their own order .
In particular , my experience of living in Morocco honed my aesthetic . I had the good fortune to meet a Spanish family in Tangier who were acquainted with a Berber tribe . They arranged for me to take care of the children ; also teach a bit of English . In return , I would live with them and learn to dye fabrics in the Berber way . We communicated in Spanish . The Zayanes were known for their beautiful textiles , sold in the marketplaces of Morocco .
Using only what was available in nature made sense to me . Art was a part of life , the making of it a source of pride and livelihood . They embraced a wholeness I admired .
Every step in the process was important . The gathering of roots , plants and insects and knowing how to choose them was crucial to the desired outcome of the color . Cloth , woven by the tribal women , was dipped into large vats of dye , stirred with sticks . They were left to dry in the hot desert . I will never forget the vision of all that beautiful fabric , held up by sticks , lining the desert like colorful sails .
A sense of place , fixing time , my environmental empathy has always affected me and is the impetus of my art . The natural environment of New Mexico speaks to me . Its horizontal lines of the landscape , strange forms , spectacular light and deeply etched texture move me .
The materials I choose to work with are very important to me . The Moroccan experience helped create my aesthetic . I enjoy the physicality of building my own substrate , making my own paints and paper . I get a great satisfaction out of working from scratch : as a fastidious cook might , growing her own food so it is just right for her cooking . There is something very elemental about working in encaustic . Its rich texture , layering possibilities and plasticity make a perfect medium for me to create the texture of my life experiences .