summer 2020
Many months into the pandemic–in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death and warily anticipating the election—my home studio felt more confining with each passing day.
craving more spaciousness
I carved out a studio annex on my garden terrace, enabling larger formats, flooded pools of pigment, and grand gestures.
With internal and external reference points during these suffocating times, my love for the visceral qualities of the materials themselves, combined with this expansive new studio, gave rise to de novo processes that launched “Room to Breathe.” This series is ongoing as we continue to navigate these complex times.
How to Map a Life
A Little Bit Goes a Long Way
Unbidden, a Thing of Wonder
Spirit Hand
Gumption #1
Nothing Changes If Nothing Changes
It Goes Like This #1
My Feelings Exactly
Objects in Mirror Are Closer
Autumn Sky
Beyond the Echo Chamber
Ricochet
Gumption #2
Halcyon
Heartscape #1
Heartscape #2
Heartscape #3
Curtain Call
When Stars Align
In So Doing
You Have to Believe It to See It
It Goes Like This #2
Don't Just Do Something, Stand There
Just So Happens
Evince
Jubilate
“Every painting is a voyage into a sacred harbor.”
GIOTTO DI BONDONE
Generating something which comes from nothing and out of nowhere—such as the act of painting—is as powerful as any hurricane, avalanche, or tsunami.
It’s a force of nature.
The voyage from the first mark, stroke, or splash of watery paint to the next and the next and the next is sacred. It sweeps the painter along into the unknown and the uncharted, but eventually brings her to rest in the harbor.
Each piece in this series has reference to the natural world and far-flung places, either experienced or imagined.
Layers of paint and marks and collage are built up, taken away, and re-built again for richly textured surfaces with a history of place.
Hive
Forest Bathing I
Forest Bathing II
REFUGE
VENTURE
SURGE
SUMMIT
WIND AND BOAT MAKE THREE TRIPTYCH
WIND AND BOAT MAKE THREE 2
WIND AND BOAT MAKE THREE 3
FAR FLUNG
SEA TO SHINING SEA
LAUNCH
WIND AND BOAT MAKE THREE 1
IN WASHINGTON, DC
The summer of 2020 brought a series of spectacular storms that seemed to erupt from nowhere…
AND IT WAS NOT JUST THE WEATHER THAT WAS STORMY!
CAPTURING FURY
Inspiration struck like the lightning outside.
I quickly gathered a few art supplies and headed out to my garden terrace.
Immersed in the intensity of the torrent bursting forth from the summer color-scapes, I laid down rapid strokes of thick paint, brisk marks, and twisting lines.
The season culminated with the late summer storm of all storms in my home state of Iowa…
A Derecho.
The sustained hurricane-force windstorm dramatically altered the landscape and the lives of so many—including my own family and friends. Though at a distance, I felt the impact through photos, footage, and personal accounts.
SULTRY
LUSH
FURY
GATHERING
DERECHO 2
DERECHO 1
AFTERMATH
Bring home inspiration for your journey
