My work has always been based on interpreting and visually translating my life. Since the death of my mother in 2004 my work has transitioned from images of the present to those of the past. In the subsequent bodies of paintings and drawings I have attempted to translate the experience of losing my mother. I want my work to be both winsome and doleful in the same way that a perfect snack is both sweet and salty, like a chocolate covered pretzel. I unabashedly want my mother back and repeatedly draw and paint images of her to have a sensation of proximity. These creations are an attempt to bring out that longing and share with the viewer my sense of bereavement. I use formal devices such as blurring or isolating to emphasize the loss, memory, and the importance of each figure and moment. The work is based off of photographic records of my mother’s life and my own childhood. I hope that my genuine care and emotional involvement in creating these images extends through the specific media to evoke the viewers own sweet and salty memories.