acrylic on canvas
48 x 36 x 2 in
SOLD
The light blue mirrored shapes on the left side of the canvas represent the four chambers of the heart and the fragile connections therein. In this space in the center of our being, a quiet conduction keeps the heart’s rhythm steady, yet the electrical workings are almost ethereal and the tiniest disconnect can unwire its cadence. The title “Delicate Threshold” is a meditation on the most subtle connections that can make (or break) our being.
Focusing in on the threshold aspect, there’s a fine point at which cross over occurs--like the landing of understanding; like the perfect reflection in a pond...that disappears with the slightest touch; like the feeling of a poem...where an added word will weight its buoyancy; like a resting butterfly...startled by your breath. These things known and held in solitude and silence easily dissolve in the light of thought. They require a careful seeing and/or an extremely light touch like catching a bubble.
The palette here is cheerful with the use of yellow ochre, saffron, lemon chiffon, peaches, pinks, dusty blue, and light sage, yet grounded with taupes, brick red and deep earth. The overall composition resembles the Hamsa, an ancient hand-shaped symbol of protection, power and strength (a recurring theme in recent work).
acrylic on canvas
20 x 16 x 2
During the making of this painting, I imagined a shaman who could perform healing by laying strips of colored light upon the person’s body. Guided by intuition and connection to the divine, the healer would know where to place the pieces of light and which color to use. This resulting vessel shaped object is also a color investigation with translucent, gauzy layers, grounded with black and the deepest burgundy. The transparent viridian and solid white circles symbolize spiritual transformation and healing. Two triangle shapes pointing north and south add a sort of compass.
acrylic on canvas
40 x 30 x 2
This figure has a translucent sharp slice in the form of an irregular pentagon coming through its middle. The blue and red circles align in a syzygy with a symbolic pearl—the resulting gem after a period of trial and toil. A syzygy is when the Earth, Moon and Sun are aligned, which happens at every full or new moon. On a psychological/spiritual level, when we experience alignment in our lives, it can feel deeply reassuring or like a glimpse of divine order.
The stacked and loosely joined white shapes create a flexible body armor like that of a crustacean. The large lobster claw-like shape at the bottom right signals the power of protection, discovery, transformation and rejuvenation--all gifts of an adaptable sea creature that amazingly can cast off parts of itself and then regenerate. The curves throughout bring a gentleness, softening the purpose of the piece which is to practice self-seeing, an act which may require cutting away the outmoded.
The title “See Through Yourself” is from the following passage by Indian Jesuit priest and psychotherapist Anthony De Mello: “Want to wake up? You want happiness? You want freedom? Here it is: Drop your false ideas. See through people. If you see through yourself, you will see through everyone. Then you will love them. Otherwise you spend the whole time grappling with your wrong notions of them, with your illusions that are constantly crashing against reality.”
acrylic on canvas
40 x 30 x 2
SOLD
A geometric composition of solid and translucent curvy and blocky shapes with faux 3-D, balanced and working upward. Colors include muted sage, aqua, peach, orange, nude, and yellow, with punches of bright pink, blue and orange. Woodtones quiet the overall palette. In the background, stormy, expressive brushwork and layered texture add another dimension to contemplate.
It’s about the unspoken alignments we make consciously or unconsciously within ourselves - connected by invisible threads to larger energies, parallel realities, or future identities - often recognized in deep wishes, prayers or inspiration.
acrylic on canvas
20 x 16 x 2 in.
SOLD
A geometric composition of shapes, stacked and urn-like. The black circle at the bottom and the white circle at the top represent transcendence. The title, “You Thought You Were Dust” is a line from a poem by Rumi that is followed by the line “and now find you are breath.” The line is borrowed for this piece because it looks like an urn, or holder of ashes—but remembering that whatever we have lost in this life leaves an opening for new awareness and opportunity for growth. Not easy, but transformative if we are willing.
acrylic on canvas
40 x 30 x 2 in.
SOLD
The title, “From an Unknown Horizon” is a line from a poem by 11th century Sufi poet, Al-Qushayri. It is about the illuminating flashes that occur in our lives that seem to come out of nowhere, but that if acknowledged may send us on a new path. The title also references the multiple horizons at play in the piece itself, with the faux 3D—something I like to use in my work to symbolize unseen forces at work.
The large white shapes framed by black architectural supports are like sails and the striped shape on the bottom right of the picture is sort of like a house boat—both symbols of movement, open to winds of change, going with the flow…
acrylic on board
24 x 18 in.
w/ white floater frame
In dreamwork we navigate the seeming chaos of the subconscious. If we are patient and curious we will find nodes of understanding, subtle anchors to our longings and purpose, as well as guidance.
acrylic on canvas
24 x 18 in
SOLD
A buttercup shape sits nested in the middle of towering architectural shapes, a reference to and in reverence of the unstoppable life force—the same power that birthed the stars that is present in the simplest flower--and in us. It’s a signal to be humbled, patient, present, grateful and in a state of surrender. The buttercup sits open and receives the sun’s rays, doesn’t chase after, attracts bees, is moved by the most delicate breeze… Faux 3-D hints at another dimension at play, and translucent shapes make an overlay for viewing chaos in the background.
acrylic on canvas
72 x 48 x 2 in.
The pearl that sits at the top of this piece is the gem brought back after crossing a threshold--a common occurrence in my compositions and mapped here by the white line work that descends and ascends in a cycle crossing over the definite horizontal threshold where the shapes from the bottom and top halves of the painting meet.
“Threshold is a symbol—a visible but not literal representation that calls consciousness to apprehend a larger, unseen reality. Science fiction, mythology’s modern descendant, has richly storied this process as transition into a new world. The ambiguity and disorientation of this liminal situation requires the sacrifice of old attitudes and willingness to surrender to a new reality—a space of potential enlightenment. The ultimate goal is to recross the threshold and bring the symbolic experience [the pearl] home to consciousness.” from This Jungian Life podcast
Other ideas around the pearl include its association with the moon, floating above the earth theater, just as our own private irritations and hidden wounds become sheathed in layers and become forces that control our inner tides and outer lives, but which bear gifts nonetheless. The pearl as moon also bestows an ultimate perspective--a heightened state from which to view yourself, your problem or pain, to see it diminished in size freeing you to view the bigger picture and not take yourself so seriously. A pearl can also develop with the loss of something you thought would endure for all time by layering it in translucence and deepening beauty so that what was once a hole is now a cherished gem in your being. Finally, Pearl is a nod to the ‘flaming pearl’ common in architecture, art and ceramics all over Asia, as well as the Taoist and Buddhist ‘sacred pearl’ in the lotus, a jewel that grants all wishes.
acrylic on canvas
24 x 18 x 2
The shapes in this piece are gathered as a headdress or diadem, signifying self-sovereignty. The white circle at the top of the picture represents the moon and its detachment from the theatrics of earth, floating in the vastness of space—a reminder to widen your perspective and keep your inner eye on the fact that we come from the same force that made the cosmos. In the 1990 documentary, “The Other Side of the Moon,” many of the Apollo astronauts interviewed shared a belief in a “divine order” after experiencing the sight of earth from outer space. Other ideas around this piece are self-determination, personal freedom, non-attachment, and liberation.
acrylic on canvas
20 x 16 in.
SOLD
The upper left area of the picture is broken open and a perfect white circle nests in the pink, feathery brushwork in alignment with the other circles present. This syzygy (the traditional definition being an alignment of heavenly bodies) symbolizes the unspoken alignments we make consciously or unconsciously within ourselves - connected by invisible threads to larger energies, parallel realities, or future identities - often recognized in deep wishes, prayers or inspiration. The overall theme of this piece is about the energy released and clear realizations that arise in the aftermath and blessing of things falling apart. The arrangement of translucent shapes in delicate pinks, purples and earth tones is suggestive of a floating Hamsa symbol, a universal sign of protection, power and strength that dates back to ancient Mesopotamia.