Exploring the Sacred Line

I grew up with suffering and beauty woven together. 

There is, I believe, the desire within the human soul to transform suffering into peace and beauty. I started at age twelve, working with my hands to transform my own suffering, which had to do with giving up my authenticity, trading it for acceptance in a family and society that was out of balance. I had been conditioned to believe that beads and “Indians” were the definition of my ethnicity, so I used that as my first medium, creating functional art with beads of all colours, shapes, and sizes, making jewelry, guitar straps, moccasins, and bags. 

Symbolism, metaphor, grace, and beauty were part of my upbringing. With my roots in the United Kingdom on my mother’s side and Indigeneity of the Northwest coast on my father’s side, inspiration was there in everyday life, through my father's parents and older siblings with their cultural and artistic passions, and when my grandparents would tell stories and sing – the happiest segments of my childhood. In my parents' home were two especially significant pieces that redefined an understanding of my lineage: one was a carved mountain-goat horn feast-hall spoon and the other a small, argillite pole. 

When intergenerational suffering landed on my daughters, I needed to express in a more direct way a prayer for transformation. Having young children, it was easiest to find inspiration under different artists rather than in art school, learning techniques and methods for watercolour, acrylic, oil, encaustic wax, and cold wax. 

Today, my task is to pray with brushes and paint, expressing a lived experience through texture, hue, and composition to express the spiritual and supernatural, living under the shadow of the wing of Creator. My intention with each painting is to create a harmonious union of suffering and beauty as healing medicine, and to portray aspects of the actual coupled with mystery.