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"Why do you do this?" This can be a tough question for an artist to answer.

Since this is my first blog ever, I looked for ideas on the internet on what I should write about. One suggestion was to write about why I do what I do, that people interested in my work might want to know what makes me do this. I really had to spend some time thinking of an answer. I never thought about why I do this. I just create what I like. I could give the common reply that I have a need to create - art keeps me sane, it is my spirituality - and those things are true for me, but what I think might be more interesting is why an artist creates their particular images. For that tells the story of who they are as an individual.

Earth Silhouettes - that was the name I gave my collective fabric landscapes when I first started making them. They are a larger picture of Earth. The grand shapes of our planet that only nature could have created. I have become obsessed with making these. I can see now that they reveal a very deep part of who I am.

When I was about 4 or 5 years old (maybe younger, I'll have to ask), my father started showing me picture books about nature that included scary things like close-ups of spiders and weird sea creatures. I vividly remember the book about how the earth was formed. It had once been a fireball, and was later covered with volcanoes. Over time, it shot up huge mountains, spat out house-sized boulders and carved humongous ravines. It made me nervous. I lay awake at night pondering this unfathomable notion. Earth was an incredible place and I was in shock and awe. Sometimes I wish my father had waited until I was a little older but he did not. There are far worse childhood traumas that people have to deal with so I am not angry. My parents also showed me, in photos and in real life, forest covered mountains, rolling green fields full of wildflowers, craggy coastlines, alpine lakes. As well, my grandmother was a lover of nature. I saw pictures of her in Yosemite and among the giant redwoods in Sequoia National Park. She often talked about the TV shows she watched about wild animals.

All these images must've filtered deep into my thoughts. I remember, even very young, fantasizing that I was wandering through rugged, pristine, uninhabited lands. They were places both peaceful and impressive. I learned to feel comfortable there. Throughout my childhood, whatever else I was imagining, the wilderness was usually the backdrop. I think this helped to form in me a strong connection to the natural world.

There are other reasons why I love making these mountainscapes, other influences and experiences in my life. Perhaps at some point, I will write more on this subject.

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