Lombarda Bay, watercolors & pastels on bamboo, 2008
On our travels to Croatia in September & October of 2009, my partner Michele and I spent several balmy afternoons on a rocky beach near the village of Lombarda on Korcula Island. I’d brought a small set of watercolors & pastels on this trip, and made a small set of greeting cards made from bamboo fibers.
This was just a sketch in watercolors & pastels, trying to capture the shapes of the trees and the various shades of blue in the water.
Bay at Mljet, oil pastels on bamboo, 2009
I finished a series of three postcards while traveling through the Dalmatian Islands of Croatia in the summer of 2009. One of our first stops was on the small island of Mljet. This was the view from the terrace of our rented apartment, a fabulous bay of stunningly clear water. In the inside of the card I’d written to my partner Michele (and mailed to her, so that this card awaited us on our return):
“Polace, on the island of Mljet, Croatia. October 2nd, 2009. A rainy day, puddles of fresh water blot the surface of the sea. Cliffs of sandstone and Aleppo Pine overlook the inky blue waters of the Adriatic. The rains cleared by midday, and you & I ate plates of grilled sardines at a small restaurant perched between the lane and the boat dock. Remember the Sardines!”
Your Fino
Panda in Snowstorm, pastels on paper, 2008
This is a mixed media piece I created several years ago from a photo printed onto paper and overlaid with pastels. I’d found the image very compelling–one that speaks to the idea that we can cultivate contentment in the midst of apparent adversity.
Schools II, watercolor and oil pastel on paper, 2010
This is a return to a theme that I began several months ago with a small card. The card had lacked the expansiveness that I wanted to play with–somehow to show the depth in an undersea landscape, where distances deceive. For all of our understanding in the world, the ocean floor is a strange place. Schools of squid dance between foreground and background–we really have no way to judge where they “really” are in space.
The Lighthouse, cut marble on terra cotta, 2010
This is my second in a series of marble mosaics. The base is a sealed terra cotta disc. I worked a lot with cutting & placing marble pieces, as well as working with lines of stones (rather than grids).
2010 marked the first year I began working with mosaics
Venus and Mars, cut marble on terra cotta. 2010
I recently began playing with mosaics as an art medium. My travels through the Mediterranean have introduced me to some amazing–and very ancient–works of mosaic art. My first few works have been learning experiences, getting to know the tools, adhesives, the limitations inherent in the medium, and how to work with the natural variations in color & texture of cut stone.
This piece I have entitled Venus and Mars. It is on “permanent display” in the border between the sidewalk and street in front of my Seattle home.
La Bandera, L'Ecu pastels on paper, 2010
September 15, 2010 is the bicentennial of Mexico’s independence. The public buildings throughout Mexico have been decorated with lights, banners & flags. But no city seemed to prepare like Queretaro–a city at the heart of Mexico’s independence movement.
I shot the photograph on which this piece is based a few days before the celebration.
Donated to Casa Latina, a nonprofit based in Seattle which assists the Latin American community within the city, for their annual auction.
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