Inspiration for my monoprints and Polaroid photographs comes from observing nature whether it is finding solace and calm or reflections on climate change. Frequently I work in series to tell a story. I am intrigued by the complexity of color, patterns, and structural elements in our environment. The monoprints are made with a gel plate and acrylics paints. Each print is unique and immediate. Such is the allure. They can include various materials to create surface texture and additional hand applied media, such as kozo paper, charcoal, graphite, colored pencils and watercolor. I print on a variety of papers, smooth to textured and light to heavyweight I picked up my father's old Polaroid camera, some expired film and started shooting. The unique characteristics, or 'artifacts', of the film development are part of its charm. I use a combination of vintage and contemporary Polaroid SX-70 and 600 films with vintage cameras, scan the images and sometimes digitally manipulate to depict a narrative about the natural world. There is an unpredictability of the function of the vintage cameras and sheet film, which must be shielded from light immediately upon ejection for at least 15 minutes. On occasion, the image does not develop but the action partly releases the development dyes that can be manipulated by hand to create an abstract design that imitate nature such as stalagmites in a cave or an aerial view of the earth. Polaroid images have a dream-like, painterly quality that evoke a distant time and place. My eye is drawn to the natural sedative of horizontal bands of muted color that connote a meditative calmness in marshes and coastal areas. Images of old growth trees along a trail are frequent subjects in my work as I am attracted to their strength and fragility, seduced by their gnarled galls and the subtle color of lichens. My inkjet, printed images are on Japanese kozo papers. These papers have lovely translucency and rich fibrous surfaces that become integral elements of the artworks.