Wayfinding, mark making, seasons of life and the calendar year thread a parallel course through much of my monotype and mixed media work. An early Backroads of the Blue Ridge map is a constant inspiration as are my memories of the fear and exhilaration of being lost on mountain roads. This is a landscape that connects me with the past, with memories, stories, and increasingly the body, bloodlines, and personal history.

Marks and tracks, growth and decay, wind and water patterns, seasonal changes, and weather are distinctive ways of considering the landscape and human condition. Years ago, following a storm, I collected the remains of a downed pine tree whose branches were beautifully etched by bark beetles. I cast latex skins. made rubbings, and clay impressions from these marks. In 2013, a colleague taught me to make printing plates from gelatin, and I knew immediately that this surface would allow me to capture those marks as well as many others that continue to surface in my work.