Exploration Series

The "Exploration" Series is an ongoing investigation into relationships and balance. While many pieces in this series pay homage to such artists as Malevich, Lissitzky, Mondrian and Hofmann, other pieces reference and are inspired by landscapes, personal experiences and intimate thoughts.

The "Balance" series began  in 2006., the advent of my 60th year of life. I had a show at the Bullseye Gallery in Portland, Oregon titled "Memory and Consequence". Realizing that I was closer to the end than the beginning, I began to think about my childhood. About the games we played and about learning to get along, about being a leader or a follower. Every decision had a consequence. Those thoughts formed the basis for this series as these pieces have fun exploring my journey in growing and finding balance in my life.

The "Shelter"series began in Caithness County, Scotland. I was with a group of artists exploring primitive burial mounds at a site called Camster Cairns. Suddenly an icy wind began to blow across the vast fields. We spotted a stone enclosure nearby and made our way there. As we got inside this ancient round shelter, we found ourselves protected from the wind. We sat and stared at the intense blue sky populated with thick white clouds, and looked across the fields of pink ling heather. We were warm, comfortable and satiated with calm beauty.  We learned later that the stone circle, many hundreds of years ago was used by shepherds and their flocks much in the way we sought shelter. The form and the perfect memory has served as a muse for this series. 

The Discovery Series began in 2020 during the COVID quarantine and lockdown periods. For quite sometime I had wanted to create wall work and to use glass powders in a way that suited my creative goals and process. Defining space with color and line while taking the viewers eye on an interesting journey was my goal. Unlike the the narrative powder and silk screen work I had been doing for "A Precarious Edge",  these pieces would be nonrepresentational. The process became quite intense, but it was so enjoyable to be able to "erase", take out or powder over.  As I drew ideas, I found that I had to develop ways to apply the powders to realize those thoughts. Multiple firings, component pieces, brushes, air,  screens and more became my new tools.  Over time the pieces found inspiration from  the constructivists, bauhaus, and from mid-century modern design.