An art student reached out to me and sent me some questions that asked me to reflect on my recent endeavors and I found answering them helped me understand some of my self inflicted rollercoaster of my last couple years. I just returned from three quiet weeks of creativity and hydration in New Hampshire. I watched the leaves drop, thanked the skies for every aspect of the Turner Fine Art show and basically everything about 2026, walked my dogs, painted portraits, and watched biopics.
Now I’m back in Jackson Hole and I’ll share these questions and answers with you real quick and plan to reflect on New Hampshire and 2026 a bit more soon. Exciting things lie ahead.
What was your thinking process around having a gallery? How and why did you decide to have one?
I chose to open a gallery because the timing felt right. I had found it very interesting and productive to be face to face with clients through selling my art at art fairs and had worked at high end galleries and led the execution of a large prestigious art show and sale. During the pandemic I had moved to Driggs and a beautiful space with already installed lighting became available to rent. I didn't want to commute to Jackson and had a decent inventory of my own paintings stacked up. I reached out to a handful of artists who I respected and knew my art would look good with and signed the lease. It was challenging, rewarding, community driven and ultimately unsustainable. It took a lot of time and energy to keep the doors open and I wasn't able to keep my own art inventory up. This combination led to a difficult decision to pivot and close the gallery, but I was proud of the energy I had added to the community and sales I had made for my friends' art and my own. People say all sorts of things and share their unsolicited opinions endlessly and when I was strong and assured it didn't matter but when finances got tight and I began to realize how my energy was misaligned with what I had committed to, it was really really difficult and I knew I had to ultimately choose painting over everything else. To paint is the sole most challenging and rewarding thing I have ever encountered and to reach the levels I strive for I have found myself taking wild chances and trying really hard in odd situations to learn about adjacent areas and understand how and where I want to be. My gallery was a stepping stone.
When it comes to deciding who’s work you exhibit in your gallery, what qualities are you looking for? Are they local artists or do you work with people outside of Teton Valley? What themes do you focus on in exhibiting throughout your gallery?
I largely reached outside of Teton Valley to people I had watched, interacted with and trusted. I looked for consistent and a high level of craftsmanship. I also found theme and color needed to fit together.
When you are making your work do you think about how you want viewers to engage with it? Is it about the personal process of creating and connecting to your environment? Or do they both play a role?
It was really figure drawing that taught me that the subtleties are widely varied but we are all more similar than different and it can all be beautiful. I think a lot about making more of what I like seeing in the world. I see my paintings as a way to shine light and call attention to scenes, people and situations. I have also grown more confident in the universal and that what I find interesting and fall in love with is valid and worth sharing. I'm just me and I'm lucky that I'm trying to connect with a whole large pool of people so it means that I don't have to just make sure I'm keeping one collector happy, but beating to my own interests and developing my own story and it will hit with different people at different ages and different times in their life, I just have to keep going.
With both pottery and painting, I have a story, reason or use in mind but I am a big believer in telling clients as little as possible and trusting them to digest things and decide for themselves. I'm thinking and making stories and tend to remember a lot about the moments I associate with an image and I'm always glad to share this and articulate my art process, but it is very important that the work can stand alone and I can't babysit it or convince people to love it. The work has to do that on its own.
What parts of your process changes across mediums? Are those differences dictated by the medium itself? What moments do you notice span across all mediums you work with and how do they connect?
There is an aspect of design that remains consistent for me in all mediums. Shapes repeat, I evolve, and my understanding of mediums and their capabilities evolve but I aim to understand and showcase not battle or disrespect the medium I'm working with. Timing is directly dictated by the medium and I think about this a lot when mapping out and planning my projects. Gotta stay busy.