Artist Statement on Running Dogs

This series on Running Dogs was inspired by walks with my dog Daisy.
Watching her run and play with her friends caused me to ponder some of the larger themes of life. Dogs live effortlessly in the moment; something we as humans often struggle to do. They have the capacity to move through the world in a state of joy, bliss, pursuit, focus, and often pure silliness. I want these paintings to capture a moment in time; suspend for a moment the spirit of the animal as it transits the world which we both inhabit yet experience in an entirely different way.

About

Erika grew up in the small rural southern California town of Yucaipa. Her favorite activity as a child was roaming the hills on her mini-bike. She and her sisters spent many hours creating entire western towns out of modeling clay, which their mother indulgently allowed them to install on the dining room table. She spent two years at the University of Redlands where she studied printmaking, drawing, and art history. She then moved to San Francisco and completed her degree in Industrial Arts at San Francisco State University. Her varied work history includes stints as truffle decorator in a chocolate factory, assistant to Jellybean artist Peter Rocha, waitressing in both London and Fishermans’ Wharf, and ten years in the insurance industry. Having explored many artistic mediums including lithography, etching, linocuts, mosaics, drawing, and sculpting, she is now concentrating on painting and printmaking. Erika currently resides in the Southwest.