Imagination differentiates my art
My paintings reflect my lifelong work with diamonds. We are like diamonds - brilliant, radiant, luminous, full of potential and much more! This is the connection I want to express through my paintings. Each painting, even when inspired by particular shape and color, has my creative imagination making it unique and coveted.
Process is everything
Drawing from a lifetime of enquiry into the cultural, philosophical, and physical history of the jewelry and gemstone arts, I use gemstones as a philosophical prism to map the arc of human transformation and identity. In my art practice, diamonds move beyond objects or usual tropes of wealth and commodity. This lens allows me to document the intertwined history of gems and humanity, capturing human resilience. I start with a blank canvas, meticulously plotting and hand-sketching a precise under-drawing to guide my decisions on facets and colors to reveal meaning and the depth of the human condition. And sometimes, I let my feelings guide my hand towards free forms. I find poetry in this geometry, interpreting it into ultra-magnified facets on canvases reaching over eight feet.
I think in color
I develop my own color palette. Just like life, diamonds would be boring if they were just monochromatic. This is why my paintings are informed by the intimacy of a color palette that captures the true brilliance, reflections and colors of the diamond. Each facet is a rewarding result of multiple applications of my color palette layer-by-layer.
It takes time...from 200 to over 700 hours each
Each painting is my labor of love. Painting facets takes a lot of patience, deep concentration and judgement. I love being in that magic space! I can spend hours painting and blending each facet. Often, I lose track of time as I paint, intimately capturing the play of light and color.