Art has become my true language. There are so many things about myself and my experiences that can’t be put into words. These things have to be worked through to find meaning and resolution, and creating art is how I do that. It isn’t always clear to me what I am working through during the creative process. I trust my intuition to guide me, and if I stay honest with myself, then by the end I will have found an ending or beginning within my mind. As Frida Kalo once said, “I am my own muse, there is no one I know better.” Because my work focuses on introspective imagery of an autobiographical nature, it felt like the work itself should reflect that. With embroidery, each motion is significant and note worthy. It takes not only physical effort but forethought to make choices in the midst of the motion. Every mark, every color expresses my meaning and I need to be aware of that while also allowing spontaneity and intuition to do their work. It is an incredibly meditative process. The repetitive nature of embroidery creates transcendental possibilities for both the mind and the medium itself. As I’ve thought about I’ve realized that my attraction to embroidery as my chosen medium stems from my love of Van Gogh’s work. I’ve never been able to get close enough to the texture and feelings captured in one of his paintings. Embroidery offers me a way to immerse myself more deeply. To climb inside my image and truly immerse myself in the color and textural experience. That is the sort of experience I strive to create for viewers of my work. To paraphrase Mark Rothko, “a work of art is not a picture of an experience, but IS the experience.”