Layering elements of the natural sciences, Biology has been a constant in the way I see the world. It’s the primary focus in the studio. I am also exploring Identity, Memory, and by extension History, combining my bio-drawings with old family memorabilia in extravagant assemblages.
Dismantling then reassembling bits of familiar old letters, photo albums and scrapbooks, cutting this stuff up, eliminating faces, and obscuring surfaces shifts these elements from the personal to the universal. These are common histories: my family photos without specific identities look like nearly everybody else’s in the time and place of a childhood in small town America.
Trees and branching continue to reflect dualities: circulatory systems nod to family trees; age rings on wood recall Memory. Antique glass biology lab specimen slides further broaden natural and historical references,.
36” x 36” x 4”
Mixed Media: Cardboard cutout on original college art history notebook pages, cut photographs, ink, oil and acrylic paint, artificial tree, biology book plates, matte varnish, glue, wire, screwball, purified beeswax, mounted on canvas.
2023
36” x 36” x 4”
Mixed Media: Cardboard cutout on digital prints, cut photographs, oil and acrylic paint, gel pen, artificial tree, biology book plates, matte varnish, glue, screw nail, purified beeswax, mounted on canvas.
2023
16” x 15” x 5” diptych
Mixed Media: Cow bones, old photographs on wood panels, album cover strips, ink drawings, thread, glue, screw nails, purified beeswax.
2023
24” x 30” x 2”
Mixed Media: Found paintings on canvas, white gel pen, biology cutouts, cut photographs, oil and acrylic paint, cut ribbon, cut paper, glue, matte varnish, purified beeswax, mounted on wood.
2024
17” x 9.5” x 3.5”
Mixed Media: Found rigid packing cardboard, cut photographs, pencil, China marker, wood panel, biology book cutouts, ink on plastic, wedding dress lace, glue, purified beeswax, antique laboratory specimen slides, artificial branch, oil and acrylic paint, glue, wire, mounted on wood.
2023
24” x 48” x 4” diptych
Mixed Media: Cardboard cutout, original college art history notes, cut photographs, pencil drawings, oil and acrylic paint, matte varnish, artificial tree, screw nail, glue, wire, mounted on canvas.
2024
20” x 22” x 4”
Mixed Media: Pencil drawings on plywood and woodcraft panels, old letter strips, artificial tree, acrylic paint, screw nail, wire, purified beeswax surface.
2024 revised
10” x 10” x 2”
Mixed Media: Cut cardboard, art history notes, pencil drawings, digital prints, oil and acrylic paint, artificial branch, biology book plate, Moo card, cut photographs, on wood panel.
2024
36” x 36” x 4”
Mixed Media: Cardboard cutouts, old letters and envelopes, inset pencil drawings on gesso board, old glass laboratory slides, hair in specimen bottles,, glass and plastic pendants, misc objects, artificial tree, oil and acrylic paint, screw nail, wire, glue, purified beeswax, mounted on canvas.
2024 revised
Mixed Media: Listed above.
2024 revised
36” x 36” x 4”
Mixed Media: Cardboard cutout qvevri shape, old school class photographs, papers and books, cut heads, pencil, biology book cutouts, artificial tree, wire ribbon, acrylic paint, matte varnish, screw nail, glue, wire, mounted on canvas.
2024
Mixed Media : Listed above.
2024
36” x 36” x 4”
Mixed Media: Cardboard cutout qvevri shape, old schoolwork digital prints, cut photographs, biology book plates, artificial tree, screw nail, glue, wire, acrylic paint, mounted on canvas.
2024
Mixed Media: Old studio postcards, sliced wood round, ink pen, pencil, typed ESP paper strips, purified beeswax, hair, plastic tube, artificial branch, acrylic paint, glue, wire, small canvases.
2024
12” x 14” x 2
Mixed Media: Old studio postcard, ink pen, pencil, sliced wood round, typed ESP paper strips, purified beeswax, hair, plastic tube, artificial branch, acrylic, glue, wire, small canvases.
2024
12.25” x 14” x 2”
Mixed Media: Old studio postcards, sliced wood round, ink pen, pencil, typed ESP paper strips, purified beeswax, hair, plastic tube, artificial branch, acrylic paint, glue, wire, small canvases..
2024
9” x 9.5” x 2”
Mixed Media: Old postcard, ink pen, pencil, sliced wood rounds, typed ESP Paper strips, thread, purified beeswax, artificial branch, acrylic paint, small canvases.
2024
8.5” x 10” x 2”
Mixed Media: Listed above.
2024
8.5” x 9” x 2”
Mixed Media: Listed above.
9” x 9.5” x 2”
Mixed Media: Listed above.
2024
4.25” x 6.5” x .5” ea.
Mixed Media: Various old postcards, ink drawings, artificial branches, acrylic paint, hair, plastic specimen bottles, glue, wire, small canvases.
Small Child Face, Grandma, Two Young Boys (L to R, top row); Old Baby 4 Times, Baby Grandpa, Faded Man, (L to R, bottom row).
2024
6” x 6” x 1.5”
Mixed Media: Photograph, gel pen, antique biology lab slide, artificial branch, acrylic paint, thread, purified beeswax, glue, wire on panel.
2023
Same Size & Media as above.
2023
6” x 6” x 1.5”
Mixed Media: Photograph, gel pen, antique biology lab slide, artificial branch, acrylic paint, wedding dress lace, thread, purified beeswax, glue, wire, on wood panel.
2023
6” x 6” x 1.5”
Mixed Media: Photograph, Marriage License, gel pen, antique biology slide, wedding dress lace, artificial branch, acrylic paint, thread, purified beeswax, glue, wire, on wood panel.
2023
Same Size, & Media as above.
2023
Same Size & Media as above.
2023
7” x 8” x 1.5”
Mixed Media: Photograph, gel pen, antique biology slide, artificial branch, acrylic paint, thread, purified beeswax, glue, wire, on wood panel.
2023
6” x 6” x 1.5” ea.
Mixed Media: Photographs, white gel pen, antique lab specimen slides, wedding dress lace, artificial branches, acrylic paint, thread, glue, wire, purified beeswax on panels.
2023
6” x 6” x 1.5” ea.
Mixed Media: Listed above.
6” x 6 ’x 1.5” (2); 6” x 8” x 1.5”
Mixed Media: Listed above.
2023
Layering elements of the natural world, biology has been a constant and grounding force in the way I see the world. I continue explorations of history and memory combining my invented drawings with inherited old family letters and photographs.
The very process of making this work in the context of a global pandemic—dismantling my mother’s and grandmother’s old photo albums, drawing directly on all the surfaces, cutting this stuff up either into tiny shards or insect shapes, gluing pieces back into my drawings—has oddly felt like a safety net in these uncertain waters. The studio work itself feels safe, although the albums have been stripped and emptied, their careful order is gone, identities are missing.
I’m now using the natural world to hang on for dear life; although I don’t entirely trust it anymore. I am a part of this history; the family trees are mine. This is the first time I’ve made the Ancestral Narratives artwork directly addressing my own mortality.
36” x 40” x 7”
Mixed Media: Album pages, cut photographs, artificial tree, acrylic, gel pen, ink pen on plastic film, insect pins, bio slides, threads, purified beeswax; mounted on canvas.
2022 Revised
DETAIL
Mixed Media: Old photo album pages, photographs, ballpoint and white gel pen, artificial branch, mounted on canvas
36” x 36” x 2”
Mixed Media: Photographs, white gel pen, ballpoint, thread, purified beeswax, mounted on canvas
20” x 20” x 1.5”
Mixed Media: White gel pen drawings on emptied old album pages, shards of photo details, mounted on 2 canvases
Diptych: 11” x 28” x 1.5”
Mixed Media: White gel pen drawings on emptied old album pages, shards of photo details, mounted on 2 canvases
Diptych: “11” x 28” x 1.5”
24” x 36” x 9”
Mixed Media: White branch, cut photographs, white gel pen, tape, acrylic, thread, letter, wire, purified beeswax.
2022
12” x 14” x 4.25”
Mixed Media: Old album cover & pages, cut photographs, postcards, ink, purified beeswax.
2022
36” x 39” x 5”
Mixed Media: Album covers, cut photographs, tape, artificial tree, acrylic, ink, cut bio plates, wire.
2022
20” x 20” x 7.5”
Mixed Media: Birds nest, branches, spray paint, cut photographs, packing material, insect pins, glue, purified beeswax.
2022
DETAIL
16” x 20” x 3.5”
Mixed Media: Bird’s nest, twig craft nest, cut photographs, scrapbook pages, ballpoint pen, glue, spray paint, beeswax, acrylic, insect pins, wire.
2022
DETAIL
12” x 36” x 3.5”
Mixed Media: branches, plastic, acrylic, cut photographs, tape, ink, wire; mounted on canvas.
2022
12” x 36” x 15.5”
Mixed Media: Wasps nest, album pages, cut photographs, spray paint, letters, insect pins, wire, purified beeswax; mounted on canvas.
2022
Mixed Media: See above
10” x 10” x 1/2”
Mixed Media: See above
10” x 10” x 1/2”
I’ve come to refer to this body of work as Trees and Clusters, although it actually represents a continuation of a previous Collaboration with Roberta series.
My work has a long history of layering elements of the natural world: insects, seeds, trees, veins, cells. In combining my pencil and pen drawings with bits and pieces of old family letters and photographs, often in an ovoid shape (referencing insect hive clusters), it represents my own history as well. Beyond realms of pure natural science, this exploration has evolved into an expanded personal biology.
The beauty of biology is married here with the symmetrical order of icons and altarpieces, long part of my work. I use purified beeswax as a skin, to conceptually bind, protect, and ritualize. I have no intent to nod towards specific organized religion, but certainly these pieces reference a veiled spirituality.
Recently, I’ve combined antique British glass specimen slides with branches, hints to circulatory systems, and old biological medical illustrations. It is my intent that this work has wider historical implications; I've tried to move through the pure sentimentality of the strictly personal to reflect a broader natural universe, as well.
#1: Mixed Media: pencil & ink on paper, letters, insect pins, purified beeswax, mounted on canvas. SOLD
20" x 20" 2014
Mixed Media, SOLD
16” x 12” 7” 2014
Mixed Media: Album cover, letters, photographs, oil paint, purified beeswax. SOLD
16" x 12", 2014
Mixed Media: photographs, packing material, boxes, letters, oil paint, mounted on canvas.
36" x 48", 2012
Detail
#2
#3
Mixed Media: Artificial tree, oil paint, letters, biology pages, insect pins, beeswax,
25" H, 2012
Detail
Mixed Media: Wire tree, cut photographs & letters, Italian shard, packing material, acrylic paint, purified beeswax, mounted on canvas.
20” x 24”, 2016
Mixed Media: Artificial tree, gesso, oil paint, paper letters, insect pins, beeswax,
36 x 48", 2012- 2015
Mixed Media: Sea form, photographs, letters, oil paint, packing paper, beeswax,
on canvas, 20" x 20", 2015
detail
Mixed Media: Sea form, photographs, letters, packing paper, oil paint, beeswax, mounted on canvas.
20" x 20" 2015
#1: Mixed Media: Pencil drawing on paper & inserted stamp board, photographs, gut, medical slide, beeswax.
12" x 12", 2012-2015
#2
#3
Mixed Media: Album paper, photographs, white gel pen, china Market, netting, pins, cotton, mounted on canvas.
24" x 36", 2013
Mixed Media: Pencil and paper letter strips on wood, purified beeswax,
20" x 22", 2015 - 2024, revised
Mixed Media: Letters, Mini-board insets, biological slides, glass, plastic, thread, beeswax on canvas.
36" x 36", 2015 - 2024, revised
Mixed Media: Album pages, pencil on mini-boards, gel pen on paper, wax paper, gesso, insect pins, beeswax, on canvas.
.36" x 36", 2015
Mixed Media: Photo pages, photographs, China Marker, pencil on mini-board, letters, glass slides, wire, branch, gesso, beeswax on canvas.
36" x 36", 2015
Mixed Media
24” x 24” x 5” 2016
Mixed Media: Old album, photo pages, photographs, letters, branch, gesso, glass slides, insect pins, crystal, on canvas; 18" x 24", 2015
Mixed Media: Photographs, album pages, photo corners, gel pen, insect pins, mounted on canvas.
20" x 20" 2015
Mixed Media: Cut cardboard tree, cut letters and photographs, old album pages, China marker, gel pen, insect specimen pins.
20” x 20” x 3.5” 2016
12” x 12” x 1.5”
Mixed Media: pencil drawings on sketchbook, letters, photographs, insect pins, antique scrapbook paper, purified beeswax, mounted on canvas.
2017
12” x 12” x 1.5”
Mixed Media: Pencil on sketchbook, old letters, photographs, insect pins, old scrapbook pages, purified beeswax, mounted on canvas
2017
12 8” x 8” x 1.5” mounted on canvas
Mixed Media: Ballpoint pen on bark paper, natural elements, wedding dress lace at edges, purified beeswax
2009 - 2018
(Vertical configuration)
(above)
(above)
(above)
(above)
(above)
(above)
(above)
(above)
Mixed Media: Pencil drawings, photographs, letters, lily petals, lace, craft jewel, purified beeswax, mounted on canvas
5” x 5” x 1.5”
Mixed Media: Pencil drawing, photographs, letters, petals, wedding dress lace, purified beeswax, mounted on canvas
5” x 5” x 1.5”
Mixed Media: Pencil drawing, letters, lily petals, wedding dress lace, craft jewel, purified beeswax, mounted on canvas
5” x 5” x 1.5”
Mixed Media: Pencil drawings, photograph, old letter, lily petals, wedding dress lace, craft jewel, purified beeswax, mounted on canvas
%” x %” x 1.5”
Mixed Media: Ballpoint pen and white gel pen on old scrapbook paper, photographs, old letters, wedding dress lace, purified beeswax, mounted on canvas.
10” x 10” x 1.5”
2018
Mixed Media: Old photo album and scrapbook paper, white gel pen drawings, photographs, old letters and/or old lace, mounted on balsa wood
Framed with glass to 10” x 10”x 3/4”
(see above)
(see above)
Mixed Media: Photographs, white gel pen, photo album pages, purified beeswax, mounted on canvas
20” x 20” x 1.5”
Mixed Media: Photographs, artificial branch, biology glass slides, wire, ribbon, thread, oil paint, foam core spacers, white gel pen, old photo album pages, purified beeswax, mounted on canvas
36” x 36” x 2.5”
Mixed Media: Ballpoint pen and pencil on sketchbook page, gel pen, photographs, old wedding dress lace, purified beeswax, mounted on wood panel
10” x 10” x .5”
(see above)
(see above)
(see above)
(see above)
(see above)
(see above)
(see above)
Following the death of my mother, Roberta, this series developed from my having received a found battered old suitcase full of her elementary school papers and artwork I’d never seen before, obviously saved by my grandmother, and found later in a garage. She had grown up on a wheat farm in Eastern Washington state, and attended a one-room school house in the country for the first eight years of her education. What treasures! I interpreted her artwork onto scratchboard, and began adding my own ballpoint pen intuitive sketches on bark paper with her original penmanship and history papers. The papers became transparent by dipping them together in purified beeswax, layered with her original drawings and stickers from the 1920’s. Making these pieces felt like a lovely conversation with her, melding our two visual histories.
Scratchboard mounted on canvas, mounted on wood panel, 24" x 24", 2009
SERIES
Mixed Media: Ballpoint pen, stamp ink, stickers, beeswax, on canvas, 8" x 10", 2009/2012
Mixed Media: Ballpoint pen, collage, stamp ink on paper, beeswax, 8" x 10" images, framed to 14" x 17", 2009
Detail
Mixed Media: Acrylic, collage, charcoal on museum board, mounted on canvas,
36" x 48", 2011- 2012
Detail
Mixed Media: Acrylic paint, letters, photographs, digital prints on paper, 11" x 14", framed to 14" x 17", 2010
Mixed Media: Acrylic paint, letters, photographs, digital prints on paper, 11" x 14",
framed to 14" x 17", 2010
Mixed Media: Canvas-backed Biology cut-outs on art reproductions, oil paint,
beeswax, mounted on wood panel, 36" x 36", 2007
DETAIL: Mixed Media Diorama, wood boxes of various sizes on 36" mantel,
2007-2008
MANTEL DETAIL
MANTEL DETAIL
Mixed Media: Wood glass-front cabinet with memorabilia, 14"h, 2012
CABINET DETAIL
The first Italian Sketchbook drawings began as a kind of scrapbook of collected “stuff”--ticket stubs, souvenir sacks, travel notes, maps--and Renaissance art reproductions I’d saved from several month-long stays in Florence. Back in the studio I added intuitive organic ballpoint pen drawings over the original paste-ups.
I’m interested in layering, both in terms of image and concept. The drawings all contain elements of nature (seeds, trees, veins, cells, cocoons, insects). The entire sketchbook pages series are mounted on wood panels and coated with purified beeswax to seal, protect, bind and objectify them. They began as small sketchbook pages with details of selected Renaissance art reproductions, and moved into larger drawings on panels, to larger canvases. Individually, these pages are small meditations, and refer to history as a part of a wider natural universe.
Mixed media: ballpoint pen, beeswax on ticket stubs, photos, art reproductions, mounted on wood panel, original sketchbook, 6" x 8-1/4", 2000
Series II: 5" x 6 3/8", 2001-2002
Mixed Media: Ballpoint pen on digital print, beeswax, mounted on wood panel,
9" x 11" orig., 2003
Mixed Media: Ballpoint pen on digital print, beeswax,
9" x 11", 2004
Mixed Media: Ballpoint pen on digital print, beeswax on wood panel, 9" x 11",
2003
Mixed Media: Ballpoint pen on art reproduction, beeswax, on wood panel,
9" x 11", 2003 (sold)
Detail: Mixed Media: Ballpoint pen on paper collage, beeswax on wood panel,
12" Round, 2005
#2 Detail: Mixed Media: Ballpoint pen & gel pen on paper collage, on wood panel,
12" Round, 2005
Mixed Media: Ballpoint pen on art reproduction, pigmented beeswax, mounted on panels, craft gold leaf edges, 12 pieces, (largest 5" round x 2"), 2003
Mixed Media: Ballpoint & gel pen on art reproductions, purified beeswax, mounted on wood panel, 17" x 18", 2004 (sold)
Mixed Media: Ballpoint & gel pen on art reproductions, purified beeswax, craft gold leaf edges, 18" x 18"x 1-1/2", 2004
Mixed Media: Ballpoint & white gel pen on art reproductions, purified beeswax,
mounted on wood panel, craft gold leaf edges, 30" x 32" x 2", 2004 (sold)
Mixed Media: Digital print of ballpoint pen on paper, white gel pen on art reproductions, beads, mounted on wood panels, beeswax, 6" x 6", 2004
Mixed Media: Oil paint on art reproductions, purified beeswax, mounted on canvas, 2 panels, 8" x 5", 2000 (sold)
Mixed Media: Oil paint, art reproductions & drawings on paper, beeswax, mounted on canvas, ea 12" x 12", 2000
The Insect Specimen Boxes series first evolved from the acquisition of an old damaged butterfly box, into which I added missing insect shapes cut out of my own drawings. I began to combine and layer actual insects and natural elements with my own paintings from the Italian Sketchbook and earlier Family Shrine Series. The work progressed from flat collection boxes backed by antique map reproductions to 4” deep antique-finished wood collection boxes under glass, sculptural natural extravaganzas of my own artistic history. In a nod to the historical Cabinet of Curiosities, my intent has been to combine historical implications with a broader natural universe.
Mixed Media: Insects, map, digital prints, beeswax, in Ryker collection box (glass/ cotton/cardboard), 12"x16"x1", 2008
Mixed Media: Insect, digital prints, beeswax, ballpoint pen on map,
Ryker collection box, 6" x 8", 2008
Mixed Media: Insects, mailers, stamps, digital print, beeswax, 11" x 14"
glass/wood collection box, craft gold leaf, oil edge, 2009
Mixed media: Insects, oil paint, digital print, seed pods, map, encaustic painting,
glass collection box, craft gold leaf & oil edge, 11" x 14", 2009
Mixed Media: Insects, ballpoint/gel pen on art reproduction, cut-out, beeswax,
glass/wood collection box, craft gold leaf/oil edges, 11"x14"x 2", 2009
Mixed Media: Insects, gel pen, art reproduction, bio cut-out, beeswax/paper, glass/wood collection box, leaf/oil edges, 11"x14"x2", 2009
Mixed Media: Insect, digital print, beeswax, Ryker collection box, 5"x6",2009
Mixed Media: Insect, digital prints, beeswax, Ryker collection box, 5"x6", 2009
Mixed Media: Insects, armadillo, chicken, plastic feet, encaustic/oil panel painting, twig, beeswax, glass/wood collection box, gold leaf/oil edge, 9"x11"x4", 2009
Mixed Media: Insects, acrylic painting on panel, biology collage, twigs, beeswax,
glass/wood collection box, leaf/oil edges, 18"x15"x2", 2009
Mixed Media: Insects, Sketchbook painting on panel, pheasant pelt in plastic, plastic, pins, vines, map of Florence, beeswax, glass/wood Collection box, leaf/oil edges, 21"x17"x4", 2009
Mixed Media: Insects, bronze leaf and transfer painting on canvas, vines, collage, beeswax, glass/wood collection box, leaf/oil edge, 21"x17"x4", 2009
Mixed Media: Insects, encaustic panel painting, map, shell pin, seed pods, biology cut-outs, beeswax, g/ass/wood collection box, leaf/oil edges, 12"x15", 2009
Mixed Media: Insects, encaustic painting on canvas, bone, seed pods, dried wreath, voodoo candle on biology page, 15"x12"x4", 2009
Mixed Media: Insects, digital prints in wood round, thorns, squid in lucite, collage of earth views, glass/wood collection box, leaf/oil edges, 9"x11"x4", 2009
Mixed Media: Insects, wood box, encaustic panel, beetle case, digital print, ginger wreath, map, beeswax, glass/wood collection box, leaf/oil edges, 9"x11"4", 2009
Mixed Media: Insects, digital print of encaustic painting on panel, leaves, dried flowers, lucite, glass/wood collection box, leaf/oil edges, 9"x11"x4", 2009
Mixed Media: Insects, digital prints, collage, wood box, twig, map, beeswax,
glass/wood collection box, leaf/oil edges, 9"x11"x4", 2009
Mixed Media: Insects, encaustic painting on panel, lucite, map, beeswax,
glass/wood collection box, leaf/oil edges, 9"x11"x 4", 2009
Mixed Media: Insect, Italian Ghost Painting, beeswax, velvet,
glass/wood collection box, leaf/oil edges, 2009
Mixed Media: Insects, encaustic layered drawings on canvas, digital prints, pencil, wood, flat file drawer, velvet, glass/wood collection box,
17"x21"x 4", 2010/2012
Mixed Media: Insect, seed pods, Italian Sketchbook encaustic piece, velvet, flat file drawer, glass/wood collection box, leaf/oil edges, 17"x21"x4", 2010/2012
Mixed Media: Insects, Italian Sketchbook Drawings, ballpoint & gel pen on paper, gold leafed wood box, velvet, glass/wood collection box, 17" x21"x4", 2010/2012
Mixed Media: Insect, encaustic Italian Sketchbook drawing on panel, nest, pod, branch, velvet, flat file drawer, glass/wood collection box, leaf/oil edges,
17"x21"x 4", 2010/ 2012
ICONS
The earliest series of Icons began after having painted a Berliner Dog Series in intense watercolor in the late 70's, exhibited in 1980. I brought back to my studio an actual stuffed dog after visiting the sculptor Ed Kienholz's Berlin studio. The dog had been a beagle, was hand-stuffed and quite grisly. I promised my husband Jerry that I'd (mostly) leave it in its shipping box, but I embarked on a series of work designed to bury its specifics in pattern and symbols, which evolved into crosses, the dog wrapped in bandages (to protect and disguise it). This evolved into sculptural forms of those shapes using chewing gum, dried and painted with oils. The first images on this page is The Wall of Icons, purchased in the early 80's by Rene diRosa. The piece is installed at the diRosa Preserve in Napa. Thereafter, more icons evolved with my use of gaudy (beautiful!) costume jewelry, often combined with watercolors mounted on wood, elaborately framed. Ultimately gluing extravagant beaded or "rocked" Icon shapes on larger plywood cut-outs. They became Family Shrines, representing us all.
HOUSES
I first started painting insects in the 1990’s during a month-long stay in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I would find huge iridescent insects (mostly beetles) dead on the street, tuck them in my pockets to later paint vivid watercolors of them every day after lunch. During that time, I came to deeply appreciate tin ex-voto and retablo paintings, melagros and other reliquaries of Mexican culture. I began combining insect imagery with additional layers of other natural elements, and symbols representing my family, my husband and two kids. I painted their silhouettes as vessels, with leafy vines, veins, or thorns to intertwine us. I used the actual shape of the house to represent context, painting with both watercolors and acrylics. The combinations evolved into an expanded personal and historical biology which has remained at the core of my work.
Currently installed at the diRosa Preserve, Napa, CA. (photo)
Mixed Media: Chewing gum, oil paint on wood panel, 1982
L. Sonoma coast rock, acrylic on plywood, 8"h, 1982
R. Chewing gum, oil paint on plywood, 6"h, 1982
Detail
Mixed Media: Watercolor on paper, beads, plaster wrapping, mounted on plywood,
8 1/4" x 10 1/4", 1989
Watercolor on paper and modeling paste, mounted on wood, 8" x 10", 1989
Mixed Media: Zebra skin, oil paint, craft jewelry, baby hair, glitter, rocks, on wood,
8" x 10", 1990
Mixed Media: Beads, shells, tin, plastic & ceramic figures, glitter, rope, tinsel, on kitchen everything drawer, 21" x 26" x 4", 1990
Mixed Media: Zebra skin, metallic & oil paint, costume jewelry, glitter, mounted on plywood, 29" x 30", 1989 (Revised with icons, 2010)
HOUSE SERIES
Acrylic on Wood, 21" x 29", 1994
HOUSE SERIES
Acrylic on wood panel, 21" x 26" x 2", 1994
HOUSE SERIES
Acrylic on wood panel, 20" x 28", 1994
HOUSE SERIES
Acrylic on wood panel, 26" x 19", 1994
Watercolor on paper and gessoed wood, 24" x 17", 1991
Watercolor on paper & frame, mounted on wood panel, 28" x 20", 1992
Mixed Media: oil paint on craft gold leaf, and image transfer, on panel, 1998
Watercolor on paper and frame, mounted on wood panel, 28" x 20", 1993
DRAWINGS
The images here are examples of pieces that don’t fit neatly within a prescribed “series”, though all of the work grew out of my particular engagements.
I’m a compulsive drawer. I draw in lectures, concerts, on programs, sketchbooks, on photographs and art reproductions. I'm constantly layering: I dip my drawings into purified beeswax to become transparent, revealing all the layers, as well as to gently nod to the natural world.
WATERCOLORS
The medium of watercolor has continued to engage me. I approach these works with obvious attempts at high saturation; I'm after a bolder statement. I love what a layer of beeswax does to the pieces, creating just a fraction of distance, ever so slightly obscuring the image. All of my work continues to be bound in biology, botany, and natural history.
Mixed Media: ballpoint pen, bark paper mounted on canvas, natural elements,
beeswax, each 8" x 8", 2009
Mixed Media: charcoal on paper, mounted on canvas,
poured beeswax, 12" x 12" each, 2009
Mixed Media: pencil, ink on paper mounted on canvas, beeswax, each 10" x 10", 2011
Mixed Media: Digital print, ink transfer, gel pen on panel & canvas, 9" x 11", 2015
Mixed Media: pigmented encaustic on paper on panel, 22" x 23", 2004 (sold)
Mixed Media: Ballpoint pen, oil pastel, beeswax on paper, on panel, 9" x 15",2005
(sold)
Acrylic on wood panel, 10" x 10", 1997
Acrylic on wood panel, 10" x 10", 1997
Acrylic on wood panel, 10" x 10", 1997
Mixed Media: Ballpoint pen, pencil, oil pastel, beeswax on paper, on panel,
various sizes, 2005 (series sold)
Mixed Media: Pencil on paper, scratchboard, both mounted on canvas, 8" x 10"ea., 2012
Mixed Media: pencil & ballpoint, oil paint on paper on canvas, 4" x 4"ea., 2012 (sold)
Mixed Media: Ballpoint pen on paper, various sizes, 2000--2014
Watercolor on paper, beeswax, mounted on canvas, 12" x 12", 2009
Watercolor on paper, beeswax, mounted on canvas, collage edges,4" x 4" ea. 2009
Mixed Media: Watercolor on paper, branch, oil paint, medical slides, 20" x 20" 2012
Watercolor on paper, beeswax, mounted on canvas, fabric edge, 8" x 10"ea. 2009
Watercolor on handmade paper, ink on paper, bromiliad leaf, cornhusk edges, beeswax, 10" x 8"ea, 2011- 2015
Watercolor on paper, oil paint, beeswax, craft gold leaf edges, 12" x 36" ea., 2010
The jewelry pieces are small drawing constructions—Medallions/pins, Necklaces and Earrings. The papers are those of old family photograph albums, scrapbooks, photographs, and antique dictionary plates. These are layered drawings—Wearable Art— using a mix of opaque white gel and ballpoint pens on balsa wood. These are small, playful extensions of the Ancestral Narrative series.
Wine Labels
See Below:
These are wine labels for my son’s beautiful natural Caleb Leisure Wines. www.calebleisurewines.com. He’s used my multi-colored, multi-paneled drawings mounted on panel with encaustic/beeswax featured here or various abstract watercolors. He featured colored labels for one vintage/year (see photograph of bottles), and modified to b & w for another. Check out his website for specific wines, press and photographs of the stunning fermentation Georgian qvevri, buried in the earth on Sonoma Mountain in Glen Ellen, Ca. at Coturri Winery.
Wine Labels
These are wine labels featuring my artwork for my son’s fine natural Caleb Leisure Wines. https://www.calebleisurewines.com. He’s used my multi-colored, multi-paneled drawings mounted on panel with encaustic/beeswax featured here or various abstract watercolors. The labels are modified yearly.
Check out his website for specific wines, press and photographs of the stunning fermentation vessels, Georgian qvevri.
