About the Artist

I am an independent artist with a lifetime studio practice shaped by place, observation, and long-term immersion rather than academic convention.

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I was raised in a creative household — with an artist mother and a father who worked as an architect, designer, and builder — and grew up surrounded by materials, process, and working artists. From early on, making was not separate from living.

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Over the past several decades, my work has been influenced by extended time spent in the Caribbean and Central America, where I lived and worked for many years. I find my imagination strongest in environments shaped by nature, wildlife, and geography — particularly within the equatorial regions of the world.

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Extended time immersed in particular landscapes often continues into my dream life. Many of my most personal works originate from dreams that follow long days spent diving, traveling through rainforest, or living close to wildlife. These images are not imagined abstractions, but internal responses to direct experience — a way the mind processes place, memory, and encounter when given time and quiet. I work from these dream-derived images much as I do from observation: carefully, with attention to atmosphere, form, and emotional truth. The resulting paintings often sit slightly outside strict realism, carrying a sense of the surreal while remaining grounded in the natural world.

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My practice draws from historical visual traditions while remaining grounded in direct observation. Whether creating cartographic works, marine life, or wildlife imagery, I am interested in accuracy, material presence, and the quiet authority that comes from close observation.

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I have chosen to remain independent of academic and institutional frameworks. This has allowed my work to evolve naturally and to support itself through collectors, designers, and private clients who connect with it on a personal level. My maps and other place-based works are unapologetically functional as well as expressive — created to be lived with, not theorized about.

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I believe sensitivity is essential to seeing clearly. I work slowly, deliberately, and with respect for the natural world, allowing curiosity and care to guide both subject and process.

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My work is held in private collections and has been featured in Caribbean publications. Today, I continue to create limited editions and original works from my studio, offering pieces intended to endure — visually, materially, and emotionally. 



— Savanna ​