Small Histories is an ongoing body of oil paintings and works on paper. The objects depicted in these works have been collected over many years, not only for their visual qualities, but for their relationship to specific events, places and people. Old clothing, dishes, vases, hemlock cones, birds nests, fabric scraps and stones, all contain small stories and memories. I image these stories mingling across time and space, converging in vignettes arranged in the studio. Certain elements reappear from painting to painting, like characters weaving in and out of separate, but overlapping narratives. Figures appear occasionally, but often they are only hinted at by domestic objects ; a cup and saucer, a meticulously placed collared shirt, heirloom bowls, seashells from a favorite family trip and various bric-a-brac, all carefully staged. The stories these stagings tell are opaque, opening to individual interpretations of symbols and visual cues; the folds of a christening dress repeat in a sea of white china and shells or bits of bone and dried flowers weaving into the pattern on cut fabric. Room has been left for exploration of the visual and material qualities of the paintings without the expectations of explicit narrative.

Additional work from the project described above.

Additional work from the project described above.

Works on paper from 'Small Histories'.  Most are stand alone works, however a few are studies for oil paintings.