Maine has been home for many years and I find its beauty to be sustaining. Yarmouth is my current home and studio space.

I've turned to painting in my life when I've needed to express a strong emotion, often fitting in a painting a few times a year while engaged in a full life with my partner Frank, raising our children, gardening, and teaching in public schools.

In the past few years, the pandemic and an empty nest created space for more painting while also giving me much to express.

Many of my pieces are very textured because I like to rework them. I also like to repurpose canvases. Each painting session is time spent again in these quiet, pristine places- both seen and imagined. This practice helps remind me to make space in my life for awe.

My paintings are in oil or acrylic, on canvas or wood panel, often using both brushes and palette knives. I like to experiment with surfaces and paint, sometimes using cold wax or different gel media for layering.

The scenes seek to evoke a sense of stillness and calm as an antidote to today’s increasingly loud background noise and environmental degradation.

The play of light on forms is usually the focus of my attention when I paint. I'm fascinated by natural light, as it is the source of everything that sustains life while also creating magical visual experiences- and it all happens by simply being.”

sheriolivastudio.com

Quoting Amanda Gorman:

For there is always light,

if only we're brave enough to see it.

If only we're brave enough to be it.