Wired II: Corona Totem, 2020 – floor piece
Graphite, oil, charcoal and pigment powders, wire, rock, glass, obsidian, pyrite, acupuncture needles, metallic, metal and found objects, 43.5” x 48.5”. $6.800.
Co-painted with Lauren Wilson and materials expert Ken Boyd.
Wired, 2018
Graphite, oil, charcoal and pigment powders, wire, rock, glass, obsidian, pyrite, acupuncture needles, metallic, metal and found objects, 24" x 36". $3,200.
Internet: benediction/ conviciton/ addiction/ fiction/////// Human use of the internet exhibits the best and worst of our nature.
Sage in the Night Pine, 2018
Graphite, oil, charcoal powder, walnut and Chinese inks, pigment powder, glass shards, feather on sterling chain on panel. 23 1/2” x 35”. Co-created with Lauren Wilson. Private collection, Inverness, California.
An ancient native spirit sits high in the night pine under Dark Sky with brilliant stars, listening to the rustle of wind and the cries of night creatures. She prays for the return of Dark Sky.
Totem II, 2018
Oil, pastel, ink, gold powders, iridescent beetle carapace, glass, and stone on panel, 24" x 30". Private Collection, Mill Valley, California.
Glacial, 2018
Oil, pastel, wax on panel, 20" x 29.75". $2,800.
Spice Trade, 2018
Oil, bronze powder, pastel on panel, 23.75" x 35". $3,400.
Rich and wild interchange of cultures; trade of intriguing textiles and goods, linguistic marvels and spiritual wisdom. May our present and future world trade continue to enrich us.
Bakara’s Dream, 2018
Oil, bronze and gold powders, pastel on panel, 23.75” x 35”. Private Collection, Corte Madera, California.
Swimming, 2018
Oil, chalk, pastel on board, 24.25" x 48.25".
The sheer joy of merging with the sea, liquid against one’s skin, spray, waves surging upon pale beach with wisps of skittering mist… a strip of sunlight across the scene
Deep Space, 2017
Acrylic, pigment and metallic powders, ink, pyrite on panel, 34" x 52". Private collection, Petaluma, California.
Dark Eclipse, 2017
Acrylic, pigment, and metallic powders, pyrite on panel, 33" x 33". $3,600.
Solar Quarry, 2017
Oil on panel, 24" x 35.5". $2,800.
Black Swan Miracle: Glaciers saved by Human Race, 2017
Oil, wax, pigment powders, ink, pastel on panel, 41" x 51". $5,200.
There Is a Crack in Everything, That's How the Light Gets In: Portrait of a Friend, 2016
Acrylic, pastel, metallic and pigment powders, ink, iridescent beetle carapace, 45.75” x 46.75". Private Collection, Santa Cruz, California.
How does the soul transform during severe grief? Through many means. When the light seems to have disappeared, the will to heal requires deepest faith and courage often when we have so little energy to reach towards either. This painting is of the moment when the light first reappears, then burnishes and exalts.
Serum of Mexico: Homage to Jorge Sanchez, 2016
Oil, pastel, chalk, 47.75" x 45.5". Private Collection, Inverness, California.
This painting is full of the energy of ladders and bright, strong colors. It’s a celebration of my friendship of l7 years with Jorge, a gardener. His kindness, sense of humor and magical ability with plants, animals and humans, has changed my life. After various challenges in Napa, he and his family returned to Mexico, and I miss him a great deal. He is now proprietor of a beautiful Michoacán store of fruits and vegetables along with his gracious wife, Elia.
Brother, Sister Put Down the Blade: cease FGM now, 2016
Oil, metallic and pigment powders, charcoal, mirror, razor blade, moss, wood, 24.75" x 48". $4,800.
This painting is an outcry against the horrific, barbarous enforced female genital mutilation (FGM) of girls and young women. More than 200 million girls and women alive today have been cut in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is concentrated. In my understanding, the intent is to render women “safe” from sexual desire and so vicinity will be maintained. From either the woman or girl's viewpoint, creating such pain that there is no interest in sex / ability to have sex (so virginity will be maintained). I also understand that a family can use the fact of their daughter’s mutilation as a bargaining tool with a prospective husband, as chastity can fairly be “proven”. FGM is now happening in the United States due to migration by communities who bring with them this practice. While illegal in the US, and recently ruled a form of sexual slavery punishable by imprisonment, the practice is pervasive and heartbreaking.
* from the World Health Organization
Pristine Pelagic Square, 2016
Acrylic, metallic powders, pastel, pencil on panel, 46.5” x 45.5”, $5,200.
A dream of an Ocean with no ultra-massive gyre of plastic, no underwater noise pollution, no over-fishing, no annual epic massacres of marine animals, no sewage, no mega cruise ships or super tankers: perhaps a tiny sailboat with lateen sail of apricot hue...
Aphrodisiac, 2016
Oil, bronze and pigment powders, pastel on panel. $3,000.
Fleurage: Le Ble d’Hiver, 2016
Oil, charcoal powder, oil pastel, black iridescent glass, ink and bronze powder on panel, 31" x 40". Private collection, Detroit, Michigan.
Commissioned by a baker who stipulated: "use red and black to create my piece!" The title and piece speaks of the casting of flour (winter wheat flour) on the bread board prior to rolling out the dough. The artist envisioned the interior of the bread oven as a foundry where the baker’s art is lifted to a daily masterpiece. This painting is the antithesis of the 19th century romantic atmospheric landscape, but is instead a claustrophobic firescape.
Archaeological Dig: l960's Rome and Mexico City, 2015
Oil, pastel, pigment, ink on panel, 40" x 69". Private collection, Napa, California.
A 1960s-style inspired commission, this piece was created essentially by scraping a razor blade continuously over the paint and ink surface, creating a hauntingly smooth (the feel of an old bone) finish. The repetitive scraping evoked of an archaeological dig, revealing layer upon colorful layer of information.
Spirit Boar, 2016
Oil, oil pastel and wax and charcoal on mahogany panel on panel, 47" x 70". $5,000.
Alchemist's Brain, 2016
Acrylic, pastel, metallic pigments, glass bits, turquoise, mirror, iridescent insect carapace, gold leaf and wood on panel. 24” x 30”. Private Collection, San Francisco, California.
Storm (detail), 2016
Oil, pastel, pigment powders, metallic powders, iridescent glass on panel, 46.5” x 45.5”. Private Collection, Seattle, Washington.
A wild, thunderous, lightning-lit storm swept in by El Niño is replenishes the water supply after extreme drought in California.
Totem, 2015
Oil, ink, metallic and pigment powders, iridescent beetle carapaces, pastel, turquoise, papyrus on panel, 45" x 46". Private collection Menlo Park, California.
Fairytale II: Life is Beautiful, but Dangerous, 2014
Oil, charcoal powder, metallic and pigment powders, gold leaf, shattered glass, iridescent insect carapaces, pastel, graphite and BB gun pellets on panel, 60" x 84.5". Private collection, Napa, California.
Shimmer Synth, 2014
Oil paint, pastel, ink, metallic powders, silica on panel, 36” x 60”. Private Collection, Sacramento, California.
Leapfrog, piggyback: moral conundrums, 2014
Oil, oil pastel, graphite and araucana eggshell on panel, 24.75" x 48.75”. Private Collection, Napa, California.
This painting questions whether humans should leap over others, or piggyback on others’ achievements. The eggshell bits are a tongue-in-cheek riff on our moral fragility.
Frission, 2014
Acrylic, pastel, lead pencil, pigments, glass bits and string on panel, 48” x 72.5”. Private collection, Inverness, California.
Snow Cave Dream of Spirit Bear, 2014
Oil, pastel, charcoal, metallic powders, wax, ink, graphite on panel, 54” x 78". $6,800.
High on a windy hill, a strong winter storm topples a massive oak tree. As the ancient roots pull out of the soil, a small drift of snow enters the mossy cave of Spirit Bear, whose deep hibernation dreams are of Spring coming soon.
Argent, 2010
Oil, silica, pastel and metallic powders on canvas, 48" x 65". Private collection, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand: Collaboration Wines Label.
The beauty of vineyards after heavy rainfall, when the pendant fruit is luminous in the late afternoon light...
Aurulent, 2012
Oil, silica, pastel and metallic powders on canvas, 48" x 65". Private collection, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand: Collaboration Wines Label.
Aurulent: of the colour gold. Deep summer, a rich grape harvest...
Cerisia, 2015
Oil, pastel, glass, BB gun pellets, ink and metallic powders on panel, 45" x 46". Private collection Hawkes Bay, New Zealand: Collaboration Wines Label.
What else to paint for her label when prescient New Zealand winemaker Julianne Brogden revealed her new work: Merlot-Cabernet Franc vintage hand-picked in Hawkes Bay? A cerise colored painting with apricot splotch of golden afternoon sun, turquoise and deep green of sunlit and deeply shaded leaves and a BB gun pellet or two to shoot the stars in honor of the ”…very elegant, Bordeaux-like wine, full and youthful in color…”, as described by wine writer Michael Cooper in his 5 Star review of the 2013 vintage.
Impression Rosé, 2017
Oil, pastel, ink on panel, 24" x 16". Private collection Hawkes Bay, New Zealand: Collaboration Wines Label.
Forest of Bodhisattvas, 2011
Oil, metallic powders, oil pastel and acupuncture needles, 45.5” x 46.5”. Private Collection, Napa, California.
Bodhisattvas — humans who are able to attain nirvana but delay doing so out of compassion, in order to save suffering beings — are represented as acupuncture needles floating high up in the forest trees. The needles, silver slim ethereal conductors of “good chi” seem perfect symbols of these compassionate beings.
Out of Balance, 2011
Oil, acrylic, pastel, papyrus, charcoal and metallic powders on panel, 45" x 46". Private Collection, Napa, California.
The Earth besieged by floods, acid rains, tornadoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, ice storms, forest fires — yet, it is luminous, verdant, miraculous underneath all.
Arab Spring: Tahrir Square, 2011
Oil, acrylic, watercolor, metallic powders and leaf, charcoal, ink, papyrus and pastel on panel, 45" x 46", $4,500.
When 27 students protesting for democracy were shot down in Tahrir Square, a horrifying maelstrom of burning, looting, violence and rape erupted throughout Cairo.
Through chaos and extreme violence, with bravery, a stirring search for a new order ... The undercolor of this painting is the color of the human heart.
black pool, 2011
Oil, silica, metallic powders, glass and pastel on canvas covered panel, 32.25" x 28".
Petroleum encroaching upon a sunlight tidepool: painting in response to the difficult-to-encompass Gulf oil spill caused by the British Petroleum company.
Fairytale: Life is Beautiful, but Dangerous, 2011
Oil, charcoal powder, shattered glass, oil pastel, graphite on panel, metallic powders, 48.875" x 72.75". Sale pending.
Caravan, 2011
Acrylic, metallic powders, charcoal and water on panel, 24.75" x 48". $4,800.
Dust, horizon ... adventure.
Samarkand, 2011
Acrylic, metallic powders, charcoal and water on panel, 24 .75" x 48". Private collection, Berkeley, California.
The moment of embarking on a long-awaited journey; intense excitement, joy, anticipation and sense of freedom. Samarkand is an ancient, glorious city on the Silk Route.
Illumine, 2003
Acrylic and metallic powders on canvas, 72" x 84". Private collection, Vacaville, California.
Hand to Mouth, 2003
Illumination, 2002
Oil, metallic powders silica, automotive glass and mirror shards, 49" x 73". Private Collection, Menlo Park, California.
Triple Spring: Boy Swimming, 2003
Acrylic and powdered pigment on panel, 46” x 72”. Private Collection, San Francisco, California.
Twilight of Magic, 1999
Oil on canvas, 20” x 20". Private Collection, Seattle, Washington.
The BBC Reported, 1999
Oil pigment and string on panel, 28" x 32". $3,200.
The Rwandan civil war still scars. This painting is a prayer for healing.
Still, 1998
Acrylic, silica and pastel on panel, 48" x 96”. Private Collection, Carmel, California.
Postcard, 1998
Acrylic, silica and pastel on panel, 48" x 96". $7,800.
Evening, 2000
Oil, pastel and silica on canvas, 48" x 60". Private Collection, Napa, California.
Night, 1997
Monotype, ink and pastel on paper, 13" x 16". Private Collection, Napa, California.