About Liz
Baltimore City
I was born in a small town in Alabama and grew up working in the family business, The Heart of Dixie Motel. The Motel was set on a hill with miles of woods behind and HWY 280 in the front. The town lay in the valley below. The Tallapooosa River, just beyond the valley was dammed in 1920 to create electicity, which flooded many small towns and created a huge lake. This lake covers my ancestors homes and graves. Many of my images rise from here.
I graduated from the small but… more
I graduated from the small but… more
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Dream Images in scrolling panoramas
This group of work is from a series of ink and gouache drawings on large sheets of deeply colored paper. These are illustrations of dreams, or paring down of dreams into an image, then into a symbols. I have experienced these dreams during pivitol points of upheaval and change in my life. Each dream is illustrated in 6-8 drawings and taped together, end to end and wound onto a scroll. Then I roll the drawings through a viewing window, in a device called a Crankie. I accompany these scrolling drawings with songs, which I hope further illuminate the meanings.
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The Moon and the LoblollyThe Moon has long wished to nest in the boughs of the Loblolly Pine, but in her crashing down, she broke all the loblolly's boughs. Knowing this to be true, they cried, they kissed. Gouache and Ink on Orange Paper, 2018.
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Lighting the Way, We Need All the AnimalsA bird merhuman traveling through Red carries a lantern. I used mostly dots and dashes of black ink and white gouache on red board. 30" x 30" 2019
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In the Rosy Dawn WaitingThe psychic stump waits for now, while the archetypes swim up or perch for renewing visits.
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Baptist Church Steeple came flowing, bell ringingIn this dream, womb waters had just broken and sent a flood down the river, sweeping away church steeples and household items.
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Pink Goblin sat under the slop sink.From the Dream series, The Goblin lived under the slop sink behind the mops and the brooms. The Goblin would rise and sway, wide smile, when I passed by. And I would be running and running in place.
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Apron and hands
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Air Newly FormedThe Air in this dream was like Air that had never before been lived in or breathed.
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Bear on the trainThis Bear was always riding the train in my recurring dream. He would get off the train deep in the woods and head toward my family home. I knew he was coming and I was always, in the dream, trying to reposition my family from the couch and recliner, so they wouldn't be crushed by the bear's footsteps. The Bear grew larger with each step and I grew smaller as he approached.
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Babylonian Bulls, carved from stoneFrom the walls along the staircase in the Palace of Darius, two great bulls were fighting. Later in a dream, on a high red dirt plateau, I saw from my bird's eye view, the same two bulls, drowning in the quickly rising waters. Ink and Gouache, 22"x 32" 2018
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Anxious MoonFrom the Moon series, the skies articulate the state of the psyche. Gouache and ink on red board, to be cut out for a hand held puppet. 2019
The Sun and Moon Series
These pale colored papers of Cerulean, Robins Egg and Blush, allow the transparencies of the sky, such as the motion of the clouds and the faces of the Deities, to be seen. Using gouache and ink, I can draw with liquid lines, the silhouettes of pines, whom I love. How better to conjure water than with another liquid. Dots and lines of white gouache are capable to describe light on water. All these things make it possible for me to relay the beauty of the land and water and calm the angst for a little while. All the paper is 22"x 32" and year created was 2017.
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Moon Adoring the PineThe Moon, for many seasons has watched the Pine grow and longs to rest in the Pine's boughs.
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Starry Headed Aunt, caring for the stand of PinesIn this Gouche and Ink drawing, the motion of the Galaxies, with lacy arms is directing the wind and crows.
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Mother ArmsMother Arms envelope the Lonely Pine, who is awaiting the Moon.
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Western Pine with Cosmic HandsIn this Ink and Gouache drawing, the Lonesome Pine is the lookout of the Moss Covered Stone and the Cosmic Hands are the Lookout for the Pine.
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Dark Moon Calling
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Deity swallowing the sunrise
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Twilight, Roosting Crow in Rosy HorizonThese two trees are tall pines, the favorites of local crows.
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Seeded Face, Dark Mother, welcomes the crows and then shooooes them away.
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Bird TerrariumCrows live in the terrarium dress, worn by the Mother.
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Piggly Wiggly
These ink drawings were created for illustrating a song. The drawings will be put on a roll and cranked to roll past a viewing window as I sing their story. This group of drawings was created for the Crankie Festival at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore, MD in 2016
Me and Mama went to town
To the Piggly Wiggly, to the Big Bear
grocery stores with animal names
grocery stores filled with poison creme
like creme horns and creme puffs
like the creme filled check out lady.
Me and Mama went to town
To the Piggly Wiggly, to the Big Bear
grocery stores with animal names
grocery stores filled with poison creme
like creme horns and creme puffs
like the creme filled check out lady.
Shape Shifters on the Tallapoosa River
These are paintings on canvas using oil and are mostly involving the action which occurs when matter is transforming.
The air and the glow from within the beings of these paintings are engaged in a song, humming vibrations which I strain always to hear.
This work was created between the years of 2011 and 2015.
The air and the glow from within the beings of these paintings are engaged in a song, humming vibrations which I strain always to hear.
This work was created between the years of 2011 and 2015.
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AncestorThis oil on canvas is of the ancestors whose burial ground is under the lake. This lake was created by damming the Tallapoosa River. The resulting lake flooded many small towns and burial grounds.
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Stuffed Doll with Eye PortalsThe guide on the doll's shoulder will lead you into which ever eye portal you wish to enter.
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Bottle Tree for HaintsThere is a tradition in Alabama of hanging bottles in a tree just outside the door of a newly deceased person. The newly dead will try to enter the old home place but will be sucked into the bottles instead. Releaving the living inhabitants of the problem of haints.
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spirit animal reflectionLooking deep into the water you will find your true reflection.
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Spirit underneath, ready to riseJust before dawn, the spirits rise from the water and float around the fields until the dew falls again. This painting is oil on canvas.
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Cloud SpiritImpish cloud spirit, waiting for the proper moment to spring. oil on canvas
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Spirit riderGhost hat, worn by a horse person, when attending a cloud stirring ceremony.
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Stag on PinkThis oil on canvas is of a Stag in August.
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Doll stuffed with CloudsThis oil on canvas is a portrait of a stuffed doll that I stitched with needle and thread, against a cloud filled sky.
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sky ceremonial headdressI painted the sky years ago and waited for someone to come inhabit it. One morning in the still darkness, I began to stitch with paint this hood and then the ties for the deer head, not knowing from stitch to stitch what was about to appear.
Gourds, Moths and Silhouettes with Visitors
These oil on wood and canvas paintings are of organic forms of wings and wood grain. I also included in this series a story painting of the cart driver and the maiden. The cart driver would take the maiden to visit her lover ever night, from the shore to his hut. One night the cart driver arrived early to retrieve the maiden and saw her climb up from the shores out of the dark lake. Since he had seen her, he had to take her place in the water and become a maiden who lived in the lake and visited her lover every night in his hut. This painting was created on the bottom of an antique drawer. It is 15"x 15", oil on wood panel.
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See Me, Not See MeOil on Wood, False Eye Spots on a birch tree. oil on wood panel.18"x 15".
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Indian Maiden and the Cart Driveroil paint on the back of a wooden drawer
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Summer Gourd on a Wireoil on canvas. This oil sketch includes crows and a woodpecker flying near by. 18"x 24"
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pine silhouettes and Haint
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Gourds and Ancestors
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wooden skyThe sky grew bright and wooden with gnarly knot holes and the sudden eye. Oil on Wood, 20"x 20"
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Swimming Deer under Strawberry MoonThe first gift. Just after my father died, a stag swam across the path of my canoe.
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Lion Head Mothoil on canvas 2013
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Fall Gourd on a Wire
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Death Head Hawk Moth the Paintingoil on canvas.
Gnosis and Needle Work
These are paintings on wood which I am working to encourage the glow from within the images to be seen by human eyes.
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The crow's offeringOil on wood..36" x 32", 2010
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Gift from the visitorPre-human recieves a gift from the visitor, showing the future. Oil on Wood 25"x 42"
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Ghost Hiding and Waiting 2012oil on wood
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Needlepoint Story Headoil on canvas
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Mother Mary and Cosmic Jesusoil on wood
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Battle for the Devil's Heart in a Netherlandish Headdressoil on wood
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Gnosis of Animalsoil on wood
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Calling Down Voiding TimeOil on wood
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Travelers and Pupils in the 5th Dimensionoil on wood
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LookingOil sketch on wood. 2013
Black is the Backdrop of the Universe
When working against black, every dot is evident and every mark is meaningful. To me the series is about reduction, even before beginning. Which marks are necessary and which marks are implied? I love to paint the cosmos in this way. Every dot is a galaxy. Every dash is an eon.
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Scorpio Moon.The Moon is a piece of the Earth, a favorite fact. This is an oil painting on a flat circle of wood against a black back drop. I attach this moon to a stick and hold it like a sign, while singing songs of longing to the Loblolly Pine. 25"x 30" x 1/2" 2018
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Stump with Agency and MeansThis piece is on Black board, images created with gouache and ink. 32"H x22"W . Created in January 2021. The stumps around the lake are underwater half the year. When the town was first flooded, the trees were tall and old already. The Alabama Power Company flooded valleys and towns by damming the Tallapoosa River. The water level is raised and lowered according to the power needed by nearby towns. Some times of year we get to visit the stumps, some times of year we don't.
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Cosmic LaundryA drawing for a theatrical set placed in the Bardo. 2019 22'x32" Gouache on black board
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Dress blowing in the cosmic microwave background windsGouache on black paper, 2020.
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Human Cabin Under the CosmosThe human cabin with her domestic scene, exists under the murmuring of the Cosmos.This is a detail of larger piece which is 22"x32".Gouache on black paper 2019
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Breasted LanternFrom the lantern series, an oil lamp on black. To create form with lines is a beautiful trick, one I will never tire of. This breasted lantern magnifies light.
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Leading the Way with TearsThis Merbirdhuman is traveling the darkest path at the loneliest hour. This piece is from the Lantern Series and is Gouache, Ink and colored pencil, 22"x 32".
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Twilight Visitors to the Rooted OneThese are images in several shades of black and several shades of white. They depict a visit between elementals, archetypes at a fragile and shimmering time of day.
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Human Cabin
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Cosmic Bouquet in a ShroudFlowers and funerals make a beautiful pair. Gouache on black with colored pencil. 2019 22"x 32"
Story Boarding Monsters
Within the grids on black paper, with gouache, I catalog the dream actions of childhood monsters who have continued to live into my adulthood. These monsters are: The bear who got off the train and crushed a path through the pines to my family's living room, where we all sat. The goblin who lived under the slop sink, behind the mops and brooms. My dead grandfather's head, which appeared in the corner of the room, more opaque on anxious days. The girl with a Moon Head who followed me too closely. The crusty drunk, being frighteningly unaware.
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Detail of Lifting the Veil in Small SquaresMonsters, Heroes and Flowers in gouache with colored pencil. This is a detail of a 22"x 33" drawing, created in 2019.
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Corn and Moon and the Sisters Inside the WoodMonsters arise during the phases of sleep and inform the dreamer of the deepest layers of existence.
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Moonheads sing the storiesLife in all it's death talk makes us long for the Moon and our Mothers. Gouache and colored pencil. 25" x 34" 2019
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Punch the MonsterThe life in the subconscious links with the lives of all others. Here, I am displaying the dreams of my childhood and how they have informed my life. Gouache and colored pencil on black. 2019
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Bear got off the TrainMy dead Grandfather's head appeared in the corner of the room and never left.
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Me and Momma went to town, to the Piggly Wiggly .Dreams of the first Americans making their way into daylight but on the other side of the veil, I am riding into town with my Mother to the Piggly Wiggly, to the Big Bear, grocery stores with animal names. Gouache and colored pencil 2019
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Moon Headed, planted by moonlight
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Decomposing parents
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Monster over my shoulderIn a dream, just before giving birth, I dreamt that my baby was tied to a crusty drunk who was unaware. I was running after them, but running in place. This piece was created in 2019 as part of an effort to decipher dreams by capturing the main action and turning them into psyche dramas or hieroglyphs.
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In a boat, casting starsCasting stars from a boat, My dead Grandfather's head, the Bear who got off the Train, the Goblin under the Slop Sink, all are in these squares as I try to make into symbols these actions from dreams.