Ripples

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Echos

This painting is a tribute to the architecture of American industry—its sharp lines, towering structures, and the haunting beauty it leaves behind. I wanted to capture the feeling of standing in a place where machines once roared, now silent but still full of presence.

The bold red forms stretch across the canvas like scaffolding from a memory, intersecting and overlapping to create a sense of both structure and disorientation. The cool, reflective water below introduces a moment of quiet—disrupting the rigidity with a single ripple that radiates outward. That ripple became central to the piece: a symbol of impact, echo, and transformation.

Visually, the painting plays with perspective, symmetry, and light, leading the viewer down a corridor that feels both infinite and dreamlike. It’s rooted in Americana, evoking the spirit of industrial landscapes and the emotional weight they carry.

Echos is a meditation on presence and absence, order and memory. It reflects my ongoing interest in spaces that shape us, long after they’ve stopped functioning—and the beauty that lingers in their bones.

Bethlehem

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Journey to Bethlehem

This painting represents the culmination of my long-standing obsession with Bethlehem Steel, the now-shuttered steel mill in Pennsylvania. Once a towering emblem of American industry, its decaying structures stirred something deep in me—a fascination with power, decline, and resilience. Part of the inspiration also came from a trip I took to the Calumet River region of Chicago, where the industrial landscape added its own layers of grit and history to my vision.

The original concept for this piece came to me in 2020. I had a clear vision of what I wanted to create, but I didn’t yet have the technical skill to fully execute it. Still, that didn’t stop me from trying. Over and over, I returned to the canvas—layer after layer—reworking, reimagining, and rebuilding the piece from the ground up.

In many ways, the journey of making this painting became just as meaningful as the final result. Through the process, I challenged myself, grew as an artist, and learned more than I ever expected.

This piece stands as a personal landmark—not only of my fascination with American industrial history but of the perseverance and transformation that art demands.

The Animal Series

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2020 Acrylic on canvas 8×10”

The Animal Series

When I first became a mom, my world burst into color in a way I hadn’t expected. Amid diaper changes and sleepless nights, my creative voice shifted—softened, maybe, but also expanded. My babies didn’t just change my schedule; they changed my perspective. That’s how my series of colorful, kid-friendly canvases featuring anthropomorphized animals was born.

From Motherhood to Magic

I began this series when my children were very small—just beginning to discover the world through wide eyes and sticky fingers. As an artist, I’ve always been drawn to bold color, but motherhood invited me into a new palette: whimsy, innocence, and imagination.

These paintings became a way to blend my creative practice with my daily life as a mother. Between nap times and snack breaks, I found myself sketching cheerful foxes in overalls, giraffes with teacups, and bears riding bikes. They became characters in a world built to delight and spark wonder—not just for my own kids, but for anyone who needed a little dose of joy.

Why Anthropomorphized Animals?

There’s something timeless about animals who act like people. They show up in our favorite books and animated stories for a reason—they invite us into imagination with ease. A bunny wearing boots isn’t just cute; it’s a door to a dream world.

Children naturally connect with animals, and when those animals reflect human traits, they become tools for storytelling, emotional understanding, and play. Through these paintings, I wanted to create moments of connection—for kids to look at a canvas and say, “That squirrel looks like me!”

Color as an Invitation

Color plays a huge role in this series. I wanted each painting to feel like a celebration. Bright oranges, gentle blues, pops of pink and green—these aren’t just aesthetic choices, they’re invitations. They welcome children (and the child in all of us) to come closer, to ask questions, to imagine stories that go far beyond the edge of the frame.

Inspiring Imagination, One Brushstroke at a Time

At its core, this series is about sparking curiosity and joy. Whether it hangs in a nursery, a playroom, or a cozy corner of a living room, each piece is meant to stir something sweet and playful. I hope these whimsical creatures bring a little magic into your day, just as they brought magic into mine during those early years of motherhood.

Welcome

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Painting the In-Between: A Contemporary Take on Americana

Welcome, and thank you for visiting my portfolio. This painting series is a visual exploration of Americana—corner stores, gas stations, and motels—spaces that may seem ordinary but are rich with cultural memory and quiet significance. These works celebrate what I call liminal spaces: transitional places where movement pauses, time feels suspended, and stories linger just beneath the surface.

These roadside landmarks are woven into the American visual experience. They exist in our periphery, passed without pause on daily commutes or long highway drives. In my paintings, I slow them down. I isolate them. I let their forms breathe and their colors speak. What emerges is something emotionally charged and deeply rooted in place.

My Approach: Color, Memory, and Acrylic on Canvas

I work primarily in acrylic, building compositions that emphasize bold color, graphic clarity, and subtle atmospheric tension. The palette I use is intentionally saturated—bright hues that resist sepia-toned nostalgia and instead emphasize vitality. These are not romanticized ruins, but living structures that hold space in our collective imagination.

Each painting begins with a structure I’ve seen, sketched, or photographed—often from real places in the American Rust Belt. From there, I abstract and reconstruct, focusing on the elements that resonate emotionally: the tilt of a neon sign, the wash of artificial light on pavement, the quiet tension of an empty parking lot.

Why Americana?

Americana holds a unique place in contemporary art. It speaks to a shared language of identity, class, movement, and memory. These buildings and signs might be modest, even forgotten, but they are markers of human presence and cultural continuity.

In this series, I treat these locations as more than subject matter—they are protagonists. They stand as metaphors for change, impermanence, and the beauty of the overlooked. My goal is not to document but to elevate: to make space for reverence where others might see decline.

An Invitation to Look Again

Through this work, I invite you to reconsider what is familiar. To see the ordinary not as mundane, but as poetic. Whether you recognize a scene from your own hometown or feel the quiet pull of nostalgia, these paintings aim to hold that in-between feeling—the stillness, the distance, the emotional weight of passing through.

Thank you for taking the time to explore this series. If you’d like to see the paintings themselves, click here to view the collection. I hope they resonate with you as much as the spaces that inspired them have resonated with me.

The Roadside Series

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Corner Store (2025) 10×10”, acrylic on canvas
Shell Station (2025) 8”x10”, acrylic on canvas
Liquo Store (2025) 16×20”, acrylic on canvas
Spring Break (2025) 16×20” acrylic on canvas
Cape May (2025) 16×20”, acrylic on canvas

Rediscovering Americana: Painting the Beauty of Corner Stores, Gas Stations, and Motels

In a world where the ordinary is often overlooked, I’ve found inspiration in the quiet, in-between places that make up the fabric of American life. My latest painting series captures the visual poetry of Americana through vibrant, contemporary depictions of corner stores, gas stations, and roadside motels—spaces that tell stories even in stillness.
These everyday landmarks are more than functional structures. They are cultural signposts, deeply rooted in memory, nostalgia, and a uniquely American sense of place. Whether it’s a sun-faded motel sign flickering at dusk or a lonely gas station glowing beneath an oversized sky, these scenes evoke a feeling of pause—what I think of as a liminal atmosphere. They exist between departure and arrival, holding the viewer in a moment of suspension.

Why Americana Still Matters in Contemporary Art

In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in Americana as both a cultural motif and an artistic subject. Artists across mediums are revisiting the visual language of mid-century architecture, vintage signage, and blue-collar infrastructure. For me, these subjects carry emotional weight. They speak to themes of resilience, transition, and forgotten beauty.
As an acrylic painter, I use saturated colors and bold compositions to highlight the emotional resonance of these spaces. Rather than leaning into retro aesthetics or sentimentality, I aim to reframe them as active, vivid parts of the present. My use of color intentionally disrupts expectations, inviting the viewer to see these places with fresh eyes.

Capturing Liminal Spaces Through Acrylic Painting

The idea of liminality—the state of being between two phases—is central to this body of work. Corner stores and motels may seem like simple, utilitarian places, but they also represent moments of pause, decision, and transformation. They are not homes, yet they provide shelter. They are not destinations, yet we arrive at them.
Painting these spaces allows me to explore how architecture and atmosphere shape our emotional landscapes. I am especially drawn to harsh lighting, faded textures, and unexpected color juxtapositions. These visual cues hint at stories untold and time paused, creating a narrative that is both specific and universal.

Celebrating the Rust Belt and the American Roadside

Much of my inspiration comes from the post-industrial American Rust Belt—a region rich with visual contradictions. Cracked parking lots, weathered façades, and fluorescent signs all serve as starting points for a deeper conversation about place, memory, and change. By focusing on these spaces, I hope to elevate their overlooked beauty and document their place in a changing cultural landscape.
This series is both a tribute and an inquiry. What do these places say about us? What remains when the crowds move on, when the cars drive past? In painting them, I ask the viewer to stop, to look again, and to find meaning in what was almost missed.


Spring Break

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Spring Break (2025) 16×20” acrylic on canvas

Part of the Roadside series

This series examines overlooked icons of Americana such as corner stores, gas stations, and motels, treating them as sites of cultural residue and quiet transformation. These spaces, often transient and peripheral, occupy a liminal position within the American landscape. They exist between points of departure and arrival, functioning as thresholds where movement pauses and time feels suspended.

I use vivid, saturated color to heighten the emotional charge embedded in these seemingly mundane locations. The brightness resists nostalgia and instead presents these structures as active elements within an evolving visual language. They appear not as static relics but as living symbols that reflect both continuity and change.

By isolating and recontextualizing these spaces, I explore the tension between familiarity and estrangement. Each painting becomes a reflection on memory, place, and the subtle architecture of everyday life. In celebrating what is often dismissed as ordinary, the work encourages a reconsideration of the American vernacular and reveals the aesthetic value embedded in its most unassuming forms.

Liquo Store

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Liquo Store (2025) 16×20”, acrylic on canvas

Part of the Roadside Series

This series examines overlooked icons of Americana such as corner stores, gas stations, and motels, treating them as sites of cultural residue and quiet transformation. These spaces, often transient and peripheral, occupy a liminal position within the American landscape. They exist between points of departure and arrival, functioning as thresholds where movement pauses and time feels suspended.

I use vivid, saturated color to heighten the emotional charge embedded in these seemingly mundane locations. The brightness resists nostalgia and instead presents these structures as active elements within an evolving visual language. They appear not as static relics but as living symbols that reflect both continuity and change.

By isolating and recontextualizing these spaces, I explore the tension between familiarity and estrangement. Each painting becomes a reflection on memory, place, and the subtle architecture of everyday life. In celebrating what is often dismissed as ordinary, the work encourages a reconsideration of the American vernacular and reveals the aesthetic value embedded in its most unassuming forms.

Corner Store

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Corner Store (2025) 10×10”, acrylic on canvas

Part of the Roadside Series

This series examines overlooked icons of Americana such as corner stores, gas stations, and motels, treating them as sites of cultural residue and quiet transformation. These spaces, often transient and peripheral, occupy a liminal position within the American landscape. They exist between points of departure and arrival, functioning as thresholds where movement pauses and time feels suspended.

I use vivid, saturated color to heighten the emotional charge embedded in these seemingly mundane locations. The brightness resists nostalgia and instead presents these structures as active elements within an evolving visual language. They appear not as static relics but as living symbols that reflect both continuity and change.

By isolating and recontextualizing these spaces, I explore the tension between familiarity and estrangement. Each painting becomes a reflection on memory, place, and the subtle architecture of everyday life. In celebrating what is often dismissed as ordinary, the work encourages a reconsideration of the American vernacular and reveals the aesthetic value embedded in its most unassuming forms.

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Portal

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This experimental mixed media piece centers on a sleek reflective vinyl monolith, embedded in an abstract industrial landscape. The mirror-like surface shifts with the viewer’s perspective, creating a play between presence and disappearance. Framed by painterly color fields, the work bridges past and present—paying homage to the American west.

Refinery Memory

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This impressionistic painting is a deeply personal recollection of oil refineries seen outside Chicago during childhood. With soft, atmospheric brushstrokes and a subdued industrial palette, it captures the hazy mystery of smokestacks, steel forms, and distant heat shimmering on the horizon. “Refinery Memory” is part of a larger body of work exploring the emotional landscape of the Rust Belt through color, memory, and place.

Keywords: Chicago industrial painting, refinery artwork, Midwest landscape art, acrylic urban scene, memory-inspired painting, Rust Belt artist