“24”x30
24”x30”
Sold 24’X30”
30”X24”
24”X30”
30”X24”
Sold 24”x30”
24”x30”
24”x30”
24”x30”
24”x30”
24”x30”
20”x20”
20”x20”
24”x30”
24”x30”
24”x20”
Sold 30”x24”
20”x20”
Sold 18”x18”
Sold 11”x14”
20”x20”
30”x24” Oil on Canvas
Oil on Canvas 11”x9”
Sold 20”x20
In recent work I have been interested in exploring the specific meaning and history of still life objects as emblematic signs. Yearly trips to Italy and Spain have been very inspirational. I’ve spent time in Italy collecting and studying emblematic images and found an abundance of rich visual information.
The interesting thing to me about still life is the long history of objects as symbols and how in the still life tradition many interpretations have remained for a thousand years and more. In the present time we are allowed a multitude of interpretations. It makes the paintings richer, and I think, more universal than figure and portrait painting, and with perhaps a larger vocabulary than landscape. There is an endless cast of characters and possible arrangements.
Fruit embodies the sweetness of life. Plums and pomegranates are juicy and sexy. Apples and pears have a long history; in Greek and Roman poetry a gift of apples is a declaration of love, they also signify loss or temptation. Pears signify redemption.
Birds represent the spirit in many cultures. Shamans become birds to be transported to other realms. Sometimes they are the guardians, the watchers, sometimes the tricksters like the crow, but often they are our stand-ins who participate in the action in the painting.
The cup or bowl might be an offering, hospitality to friends, the cup of kindness, the grail.
Private Collection
20x20" 3200. in black and gold Dutch Hackman frame
Private Collection
Private Collection
Private Collection
20x20" in black and gold Dutch Hackman frame 2800.
Private Collection
24x20 2800.
20x20" 2600.
20x24" 3000. with gold Hackman frame
18x18" 2400. with Hackman frame
12x16", gold Hackman frame, 1600.
20x20" 2600.
20x16" oil on canvas 1800.
12x16" 1600.
6x6" oil on wood panel 450.
20x20" oil on canvas 2600.
24x20" oil on canvas 2800.
In recent years I find that my painting is strongly influenced by the time of year, the strange mystery of early winter, the month of September where the natural world pauses and is quiet and beautiful, the busy bright world of mid summer.
These moments are part of the subject of my paintings, my investigations of what is truly worthwhile in life. My main effort is to hold on to those sweet moments that are somehow both transitory and eternal through light and color and also subject matter: books, botanicals, a bowl of fruit, boxes and packages that represent a yet undiscovered gift, birds, beetles and lizards that signify living nature and make still life less still, distant vistas and vast skies at dusk that offer hope or threat from the gods.
24x20" oil on canvas in gold Hackman frame 3200.
24x30 oil on canvas 3200.
24x20" oil on canvas 2600.
29x24" oil on canvas 2400.
Private Collection
Private Collection
24x20 Oil on canvas 2600.
30x30 oil on canvas 3200.
20x20 oil on canvas 2600.
20x20 oil on canvas 2800.
12x12" oil on canvas 800.
16x10" oil on wood panel 800.
I love mixed media work because I can be more playful and inventive in building the image with a variety of materials. Putting actual objects together with painted or printed imagery emphasizes the play between illusion and reality.
11x14" oil and collage on wood panel 1200.
12x16" oil and collage on wood panel 800.
22x30 oil on loose canvas and damask fabric 1800.
16x12" oil, collage and found objects 800.
NFS
NFS
Collection of Linda Carey
Private Collection
20x20" oil paint, collage, found objects 2000.
20x24" oil on two wood panels 2000.
12x12" oil on aluminum panel mounted on wood panel 800.
20x20" Oil and Stitching on canvas 2200.
Private collection
16x12" oil on wood panel 800.
I have lived in Rome for three months at a time nearly every year for the last seven years. The architecture and landscape was captivating and most of all, for me, the food culture that is such a charming part of the place. As a still life painter my interest was captured by the bakery windows, the grocery store shelves, the outdoor markets. To me, a jar of anchovies or olives, or a small perfectly sculptured cake contained an essence of Italian culture.
In some years I determined that I would include a souvenir of my travels to a museum or a monument along with the usual still life objects. Viewers may recognize a Piero postcard or a tiny Colosseum. These works are small scale.
12x14" oil on canvas mounted on panel 600.
12x14" oil on canvas mounted on panel 600.
14x14" oil on canvas mounted on panel 600.
12x14" oil on canvas mounted on panel 600.
12x14" oil on canvas mounted on panel 600.
14x10" oil on canvas 600.
14x11" oil on canvas 800.
8x10" oil on canvas 600.
Ideal workspace which opens on to the garden.
The shelves are full, but still never enough objects for inspiration.