Has there ever been a year like 2020? Hindsight is not perfect in this case. In fact, it might be best to leave it all in hindsight. So many feelings, so many thoughts, so overwhelming that neither words nor logic can capture what we have been through. So, I have been driven to abstraction which has allowed me to escape this reality and connect with another, an inner conscience that encapsulates my feelings of confusion, fear, anger, and frustration, the turmoil of the earthly world.
In this past year, days went nameless and weeks sped into months of undefined seasons. What happened last summer? Did we even have one? It seemed that every day brought new and often disturbing news. Some of us turned to streaming videos, others to music, I did those, too, but spent a lot of time escaping into a space where I could disconnect from the reality around me and let my tangled thoughts flow into a space made of color, form, and line, layered and textured. Abstraction in art has always allowed me to express the confusing boundaries of time and space
I hope that viewers of my art enjoy looking at it anew every time they see it. Sometimes they may find an element that evokes a reality, a form that seems like a figure or a landscape feature. Other times, the representational may disappear and be replaced with a feeling or a sense of something calming or wildly adventurous. There is no ordered progression to my work. You can start at any point and follow different paths to explore it. I hope it evokes a spirit of endless opportunity, a spirit of hope, and looking forward to a brighter future.
With my beloved presses at the Sonoma Community Center where I monitor the print studio unavailable since March, I have had to change course and renew my interest in other creative media. I’ve turned to oil paints, pigments, cold wax, and encaustics. This has led to a lot of creative exploration, not always having a specific goal or knowing the end point. So far, I’m enjoying the journey. I hope you enjoy traveling with me by viewing my work.
I am pleased to be starting 2021 as the featured artist at the Upstairs Art Gallery in Healdsburg, California. My new work will be on exhibit from January 4th through the end of the month. For location and hours and to see our other members’ work, please visit our website: upstairsartgallery.net.