9"x12" gouache & ink on Bristol board; pine burr & wild goose chase pattern variation

I share my life with a smattering of amazing visual artists but the heaviest influence on my day-to-day are a large group of savvy writers. Over time, I find their way of crafting art inserting itself into my own work. I find it impossible to paint without contemplating the story behind the work. Why these colors? Why this pattern? And like them, a new work will begin with a kernel of an idea only to evolve as the thing grows. 
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This work is so much that. When my brother and I were kids together in the early 80's, we would collect wild animals as if the woods were our pet store (though the shady shopping center pet store did provide a steady stream of hamsters, Guinea pigs, mice, and the occasional chameleon). One of the most commonly collected animals were box turtles. We weren't total dum dums. We knew that the natural habitat of a box turtle was the woods but it was the 80's and shit was wild in southern Harford County. Nobody batted eyes if you brought home a half fledged starling or a snapping turtle the size of a coffee table in a burlap sack. So here we are, keeping box turtles as pets. They lived in an old rabbit cage. We fed them iceberg lettuce and tomatoes. We loved watching them open their mouths to reveal their turtle togues when they ate. We wondered if they were boys or girls. We had a Wildlife Fact File to answer our questions.
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Now I'm an adult. A Maryland master naturalist. An artist. I think a lot about all those animals we kept to their ultimate doom. I also think about all the plants I didn't know about then and how, if I had, maybe I would have left those box turtles alone. 
This is my nod to the chaos of the 80's and the beautiful mayapple, a plant that I don't see much anymore. It makes one little delicious fruit per year and it's a favorite of our box turtle friends. I bet that each of their 40 years they look forward to finding one, unless some jerk kids force feed them cold, white-ish lettuce. 

 

6"x22" gouache & ink on Bristol board; 2023; based on traditional quilt pattern 'hole in the barn' and 'Jacob's ladder', southern sea oats drawn in archival ink

8"x10" gouache & ink on cold press paper; 2022; Based on traditional patterns: 'log cabin' variation & 'north star', common dittany drawn in ink completed while in residency at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts

5"x7" (diptych) gouache & ink on cold press paper; 2022; Based on traditional patterns: 'flying geese' variation, mountain laurel drawn in ink completed while in residency at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts

6"x10" gouache & ink on cold press paper; 2022; Based on traditional patterns: 'log cabin' variation, star chickweed drawn in ink completed while in residency at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts

8"x12" gouache & ink on cold press paper; 2022; Based on traditional patterns: 'north star' variation, common buttercup drawn in ink completed while in residency at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts

4"x10" gouache & ink on cold press paper; 2022; Based on traditional patterns: 'birds in the air' & 'north star' variation, narrow and broad leaf plantain drawn in ink completed while in residency at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts

16" round acrylic on canvas; 2021; Based on traditional patterns: 'sunshine & shadow' and 'ocean waves' variations Selected for display by Maryland Art Place and sold at Under $500

Painted as a commission for friends who, to me, represent a perfect vision of our country. A black man whose family roots lie in North Carolina slavery and an Indian woman who is the daughter of immigrants. They are now a corporate lawyer and director the New Jersey Transit System, respectively, and raising their son in their 1920's New Jersey home. 48"x60" Acrylic, charcoal, aerosol, with hand-cut stencils on canvas.

8"x8" acrylic on wood panel Based on my time in Maui, Hawai'i and native Kapa patterns. Two patterns are represented: the interlocking triangles symbolizing the connection of our worlds culture and peoples and Kanaka which represent family.

8"x10" acrylic on wood panel This consists of three Kapa patterns from native Hawai'i. Mauna - honoring Hawaiis mountains. Niho Ku - representing the jagged lava rock coastlines. And Kaimana - mimicking the Hawaiian night skies. A landscape painting of Baldwin Beach, Maui rests in the center. A place were many locals spend their days surfing and relaxing in the Pacific Island sun.

The view from of the center of Maui where one can see the waters almost meet. The kapa patterns are native to Hawai'i and represent the path of the warrior, family, and the sharing of cultures. 20"x20" Acrylic on canvas 2019

16" x 20" Acrylic, Charcoal, and Spray Paint on Board with Original Stenciling

12" x 12" Acrylic, Charcoal, and Spray Paint on Board with Original Stencils

12" x 12" Acrylic, Charcoal, and Spray Paint on Birch Bark with Original Stencil

5" x 7" Watercolor on Cold Press Paper

10" x 20" Acrylic, Charcoal, and Spray Paint on Canvas with Original Stencil

7"x12" reclaimed acoustic guitar wood, driftwood, mulberry brand, vintage thread & waxed cord; 2022

7"x9" reclaimed acoustic guitar wood, mulberry branch, acrylic & waxed cord; 2021

If you've been to Mesa Verde National Park, you can see this seen. It's all layered rocks and canyons and ancient ruins hidden in a massive mesa. It's just breathtaking and otherworldly. You have to constantly remind yourself that there is an entirely different ecosystem thousands of feet below you on the plains below. Using tweezers, tons of hours went into selecting, sanding, glueing reclaimed wood pieces left over from my other work onto a reclaimed cherry wood board from a Baltimore friend. Pieces were not cut to fit, this came together as a puzzle would, finding the right piece for each place. Reclaimed exotic wood, reclaimed cherry wood board, and gold leaf. 7 1/2"x5"

My husband comes from Rawlings, Maryland. It's a whisper of a place off of 220 and just a major league baseball toss away from West Virginia. It's one of the rare spots in Maryland where the Appalachians rise up like proper, pointed, mountains and then blend into the flat river valley below. It is beautiful now. It must of been spectacular to the people who first lived there. I had that slice of the world in my mind when putting this mosaic together. The hills. The sunsetting. The sky darkening. The special shifting of light that you get from living with higher elevations all around you. Using tweezers, tons of hours went into selecting, sanding, glueing reclaimed wood pieces left over from my other work onto a reclaimed spalted wood board with a lovely raw edge. Pieces were not cut to fit, this came together as a puzzle would, finding the right piece for each place. Reclaimed exotic wood, spalted wood reclaimed wood board, and gold leaf. 8"x4 1/2"

This wall hanging was months in the making as Covid began and many of us had to reconfigure our lives. It's representative of the Lower Antelope Canyon in Arizona. The slot canyons are a playground of color, texture, and light. I cut reclaimed wood used in the making of guitars to reflect the grain of the sandstone wall and afternoon light slipping into the cracks of the desert above. After cutting and sanding all of the peices, they were hand-drilled and sewn together with my grandmom's thread collection, passed to me after she could no longer sew. A found mulberry branch supports the top of this piece. 8"x11"

Reclaimed wood, found branch, waxed cord

Reclaimed wood, found driftwood (St. Helena's Island, SC), waxed cord

Reclaimed wood, found branch, waxed cord

Reclaimed wood, found branch, waxed cord

Created from reclaimed wood from a guitar makers workshop, this landscape is inspired by the Canaan Valley in West Virginia, next to Dolly Sods Wilderness. Pieces are hand-cut, sanded, and then sewn together with vintage thread passed to me from my grandmom. Hand-painted with acrylic. 8.75"x 6"

Completed while on residency at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, this landscape depicts the under appreciated urban winter landscape of our Baltimore City tributaries.

9"x11" oil pastel on paper The Dan's Mountain valley, Rawlings, Maryland, looking into West Virginia. The place where my husband is from.

Sunset over the Canaan Valley, near Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia. 4"x12" Acrylic on canvas 2019

A recent hiking trip to Dolly Sods Wilderness this fall produced amazing landscapes. This one of a cotton grass amongst a field of boulders was one of them. 11"x14" Acrylic on canvas 2019

Based on my camping trip to Petrified Forest National Park. 24"x24" Acrylic on canvas 2019

Based on my camping trip to Great Sand Dunes National Park. It was cold, raining, and marvelous. 20"x24" Acrylic on canvas.

18"x18" Acrylic on Canvas 2018 View of Natural Bridge, Virginia on New Years Day 2018

40"x30" Acrylic on Recycled Canvas 2018 Winter View of Raphine, Virginia Ranch Land

A glimpse into a tidal cave created by lava at Waianapanapa State Park, Maui. 30"x40" Acrylic on canvas 2019

16"x40" Acrylic on Canvas 2018 View from Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii

4"x6" oil pastel on light blue pastel paper

6"x4" oil pastel on paper

3"x5" oil pastel and pencil on Arches paper

3"x5" oil pastel on Arches paper, plein air

5"x3" oil pastel on Arches paper

3"x5" oil pastel and charcoal on Arches paper

3"x5" oil pastel on cold press paper

3"x5" oil pastel on pastel paper

5"x4" oil pastel on Arches paper

3"x5" oil pastel on pastel paper

4"x6" Gouache & Graphite on Cold Press Paper

4"x6" Gouache & Graphite on Cold Press Paper

6"x8" Gouache and Pencil on Cold Pressed Paper 2018

6"x6" Gouache and Pencil on Cold Pressed Paper 2017

5"x2" Gouache and Pencil on Cold Pressed Paper 2017

4"x 6" Gouache & Graphite on Cold Press Paper

4"x 6" Gouache & Graphite on Cold Press Paper

4"x6" Gouache & Graphite on Cold Press Paper

4"x6" Gouache & Graphite on Cold Press Paper

Descending mountains and north star. 8'x11' Latex on Oak Wainscoting 2018

Detail of mural in-progress.

Descending mountains and north star. 8'x11' Latex on Oak Wainscoting 2018

Descending mountains and north star. 8'x11' Latex on Oak Wainscoting 2018

Descending mountains and north star. 8'x11' Latex on Oak Wainscoting 2018

Preliminary sketch of the Lazy Whale mural. Gouache on paper.

Completed section of the upper set of steps. A collaborative effort between the home owners and myself, the design was created to reflect the previous designs painted on the upper molding of the home. Latex on Concrete.

Completed section of the upper set of steps. A collaborative effort between the home owners and myself, the design was created to reflect the previous designs painted on the upper molding of the home. Latex on Concrete.

Detail of the upper set of steps. A collaborative effort between the home owners and myself, the design was created to reflect the previous designs painted on the upper molding of the home. Latex on Concrete.

Detail of the lower set of steps. A collaborative effort between the home owners and myself, the design was created to reflect the previous designs painted on the upper molding of the home. Latex on Concrete.

Preliminary drawings of the upper set of steps of the house. A collaborative effort between the home owners and myself, the design was created to reflect the previous designs painted on the upper molding of the home. Prisma color on velum.

Preliminary drawings of the lower set of steps of the house. A collaborative effort between the home owners and myself, the design was created to reflect the previous designs painted on the upper molding of the home. Prisma color on velum.

Before picture of both sets of steps.