I choose to work on a life-size scale when creating my figurative work because of the visual impact it has when standing in front of it. I often find myself doing a double take when walking by one of these pieces because it feels like there is another person in the room. 

 

The pure pigment in the pastels saturates the surface with color and gives the piece a warm velvety quality, which, to me, is very feminine, this is why most of my subjects are female. She (the subject) is usually depicted as tied down, sometimes literally, and burdened with a conflict. I try to capture the moment when she realizes she is in danger and is about to react.

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This body of figurative work Is a series I conceptualized before my son was born. They are self-portraits. The first painting is about the day I discovered I was pregnant, January 5th and the second is about a family loss, a death something, April 15th. I felt confined, in a box as I watched the spirit leave through the window. 

 

The pastel drawings, Passage I, II and III show me tethered to a chair trying to cope with my loss.  In the dark I sit with

an open door behind me, which represents a way in or a way out. I hold in my hands a dove which represents the baby. 

He too is tethered, but to me. I named my son Cole after the dove in these drawings. The name Coleman is Celtic for ‘peace keeper’, and he is just that.