Three Palms

"Three Palms"
Acrylic on canvas
Triptych -
each canvas 30" x 15"

Strelitzia and Copper

"Strelitzia and Copper"

Acrylic on canvas

20" x 20"

$400

Messengers of the Gods

In Greek mythology, Iris is the goddess of the rainbow and the messenger of the gods. Today, the iris has come to represent faith, hope and wisdom. 

You could say the inspiration for this piece came as a message from Iris herself. As I worked out the background on these panels and wondered what they would become, the irises emerged from the chaos and texture in front of me- not just on one panel, but on all three. Who am I to turn down a gift from the gods?

"Bruce's Onions"

"Bruce's Onions"

Mixed Media with Oils on Canvas

24" x 24"

My friend Bruce paints the most beautiful onions. I have admired his onions for years, often wishing I could do justice to them the way he does. Recently I learned that Bruce and I will be in an exhibit together in the spring, so I decided to try my hand at a portrait of this beautiful root vegetable. I'm pleased with the results, but have to say I still like Bruce's onions better....

3rd Annual ISAP Online International Open Juried Exhibition

Awards Announced:

The awards have been announced for the ISAP online exhibit and I was pleased to learn that my painting "Blues" was awarded an honorable mention. John Salminen, the juror, did an outstanding job of selecting the 53 works for the show. They are all eye-candy! You will not want to miss this exhibit: 3rd Annual ISAP Online Exhibit

Wore Stories

"Casualties of Wore"
Acrylic on 300# Arches
30" x 22"

My mother loved to sew. She made most of her own clothes and some of mine (when I was too young to protest that I wanted 'real' clothes). There were always tins of buttons, baskets of thread and folds of fabric around, along with just about anything necessary to make or mend something on the spot. Even when a garment was truly worn out, she could resurrect it into some other useful thing. 

I inherited Mom's sewing 'works': the old turquoise Singer, the buttons, the threads, the tins of parts collected to make repairs and a few things she had never gotten around to fixing or finishing. So began the task of deciding what to keep and with what to part, combining her treasures with mine, layering the generations in my sewing basket. 


I found similarities in our collections, mine no doubt a mirror of her practices. Lots of buttons. Multiples of our favorite colors of thread. Handy little tools, some I no longer remember how to use. I found we both had saved some things long past their usefulness.  It was those cast-offs I spread out on the table. I wondered why the zipper with the missing teeth, the broken buttons, the faded and threadbare fabric scraps had been kept; what stories were preventing me from sweeping them off the table into the waste basket. 


I inherited my mother's sewing works, but I became aware while sifting and sorting through threads and feelings and those casualties of wore that I had not inherited the same passion she had for the craft. What I had, that kept me collecting buttons, was more an admiration for her talents and a desired commonality. The realization made me feel separated and a little sad, but it was also a bit freeing. It reinforced for me that I have my own passions and my own stories to tell, and gave me permission to get out the paints and tell them. 

5th Annual ISAP-FL Juried Exhibition

"Blues" (Casualties of Wore Series)

I'm pleased to announce that "Blues" has been accepted into the 5th Annual International Society of Acrylic Painters- Florida Exhibition. Judged by renowned artist Gerald Brommer, the exhibit will be at the Carrollwood Cultural Center in Tampa, FL from December 2, 2010 through January 3, 2011. On an added note, it has also been juried into the 3rd Annual ISAP Online International Open Juried Exhibition. Judged by John Salminen, the exhibition opens November 1, 2010 on the ISAP web site.