DNA Longboard Show!

Oct. twenty-third 7-11 pm GO SEE awesome artwork and check out a unique gallery/shop. All works are done on longboard decks, offering a fresh and unique take on "surface"!

Above is an image of my deck design, blueprints are adhered and geometric shapes are cut into the surface to create tid bits of negative space. A graphite drawing of the interior of the Florence Cathedral is highlighted in areas of architectural interest in the transparent red/orange. I wanted it to be transparent so that you can still experience and follow the line-work on the deck, lines that extend and wrap around the pre-existing lines in the blue prints. Also attached are two photographs, playing on industrial vs nature, and the beauty of opposites.

every day you save my life

Every day you save my life: 30x60 mixed media on wood

A present for my husband on his birthday: oil on wood, photographs of my husband and I, and one of our wedding day. Also incorporated, a letter from my husband on our wedding day, a feather from the vineyard where we wed, and image transfers for textural surfaces. We are celebrating our 1st anniversary this weekend!

Kaboom

I was only looking for the good apples: 30x30 mixed media on wood

Kaboom: 30x30 mixed media on wood

For me, beautiful represents a time. A simpler place and time when ignorance means peace, and family means protection and normalcy. I am taken back to a time where normal meant all things familiar and consistent, like the smell of freshly hung sheets on a clothesline, and the taste of fresh tortillas with butter, finding the good apples, and exploring the ally behind our green house.

Beautiful, was a time of ignorance and oblivion… no concern for money, addiction, liability, divorce, or health.

By contrast, KaBoom. A time of angst, panic, and frustration. Both of these pieces are dealing with time and cycles, and the changes that occur, for me, some have come and gone far too early.

poor bird

36'' x 36'' mixed media on wood: acrylic, pencil, blueprints, paper, found objects

I found this bird nest under a tree in my yard one day after a storm. I was sad because I thought that the babies must have fallen in the storm too, but I did not see any dead baby birds in the yard, and I felt better. Then, I when I picked up the nest, I examined it, and became absolutely engaged in it’s structure. It was really intricate, durable, and was completely intact after falling 20 or so feet in the storm. At that moment my compassion for little dead birds, and sad momma birds turned into wonder and amazement and respect for this tiny cradle.

Somehow a small bird knew how to gather the myriad materials for this structure. Somehow this bird arranged scores of small pieces of twig and grass and weed and bark, weaving them together with such precision that the nest is still sturdy and secure after the storm. Considered in this light, this little bundle of dried vegetation is really a small miracle.

Dates To Remember...

36x36 mixed media on canvas

Finished a new painting called, "dates to remember":

Still inspired by the drive East on 66, the colors and textures are very much the same as "east-bound", a painting I finished just days before beginning this one. So, I think I was still in this earth-tone/dirt/grass/wind/ kind of mode... But during the time I was working on this piece, I was feeling a little sad about the kind of life changes that take place naturally over time, and the effects of loss, divorce, marriage, birth, etc. - and the way these things take a toll and can make our lives better and worse. The way a baby can make our lives mean something, the way the loss of our loved one can leave us responsibility like we've never known... and divorce makes everything complicated and destructs an entire family- but my recent marriage gave me reason to have faith in love. So included in this piece, are the dates on which life-changing events occurred in my life.

East-Bound

(unfinished) 48 x 48 mixed media on wood box, acrylic, blueprints, pencil, and metal

detail:

detail:
detail:

The drive down Rt 66 east-bound in Arcadia is one of the most charming and peaceful drives ever. It's beautiful any time of year, and it's exceptionally conducive to creative thinking. My husband and I love to take this drive on Sundays in fact, we wed at a vineyard just off of Rt. 66. There's also a tiny "abandoned" building that sits on the north side. All that's really left of this tiny structure, is it's mortar and stone, and the moss that grows along the sides of it. I'm intrigued by the colors and lines in the stone.

Here are some of the images that inspired this piece:

love for the line

I've Been Trying To Reach You: diptych, mixed media on 48 x 48 wood boxes

[photo, blueprints, acrylic wash, pencil, balsa wood]

I'm fascinated by lines. I use linework in most every piece. Lines have unlimited uses, they can be instructional, directional, they can have an endpoint, they can be eternal, they are either real, or representational. Lines have the instant ability to guide the eye, and for an artist, it's a handy tool I often use to guide the viewer. In contrast, lines don't have to lead to anything- sometimes in my work, they are everywhere, like my busy little head.

I love the line.

the roof interior of the red round barn in Arcadia, Ok. on Rt.66:

I think my interest in the line goes back to childhood. I grew up around blueprints and construction. The men in my life, had trades that involved architecture and blueprints, drafting and mathematics. I didn't discover this fascination until my early 20's. But now I'm obsessed with it.

Sol LeWitt was a little "intense" with his relationship with lines. These are some inspiring wall drawings. LeWitt would actually write instructions for his massive drawings, so that any draftsman could reproduce them. It's incredibly mathematical, and architectural, some pieces are for individual spaces, linking points and lines to architectural detail and elements within a room, or wall, or specific space. very cool:

considering conceptual art

I often describe my monotypes as "conceptual". People ask me all the time, what does that mean... it always kind of surprises me. But I realize that conceptual is a vague term, fitting for it's definition. Thesaurus.com states these synonyms for the term "conceptual": imaginary, notional, theoretic,theoretical, visionary

Here's my take, I'll start with the process: I write all the time in my sketchbook/journal, thoughts, nonsense, word excersises, my sketchbook is like a log book of things in my head. And from there I find the place my mind is drifting, the images and colors, phrases, and textures that take me to a place I've once been in the back of my mind: could be a feeling, a memory or a dream. How does one portray these feelings, things intangible, and tangled up thoughts... in this process they begin to take a form. That's it, that's my inspiration. I play with textures and layers in the prints, love mixed media. I like to attach personal photographs, torn sketches from my sketchbook, stuff like that. Things that invite the viewer to that place also. Ultimately, the idea and meaning of the piece is then more important than the actual image with-in the piece. Here are some of my monotype prints.

G E S T U R E: studio & gallery

I'm super stoked to announce the opening of G E S T U R E S T U D I O !!! July 11th 9pm-12 we'll have our Grand Opening celebration and Open House for our working studio and gallery! My friend and peer, Jessica Craddock invited me to participate in this venture with her, and we're excited little artists, getting the space ready and designing all the time. I'm totally happy to be in this with Jess, and stoked about our new-found friendship and partnership! It's going to be killer times and we invite all to join us!

19 E California in Brick Town, Oklahoma City: