Paintings Gallery

48 x 60 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Autumn Equinox signals the crescendo of fall. A few summer flowers are still with us; marigolds and zinnias. Leaves have blown from trees revealing the landscape of fields and rocks along with distant mountains. It is a time of abundance, of harvest, of enjoying the dazzling light of autumn. Winter winds lurk in the sky whipping the clouds and blowing across the land. The days and nights are of equal length but the scales will begin to tip.

72 x 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

View II is a study in reflected light. The landscape shimmers in watery silver and gold stretching far into the distance. Staccato marks denote plant forms punctuating the cools washes of the fields. This is a grand vista inviting us to take our time as we move through the painting.

84 x 60 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Summer is a large painting about being enveloped by the warmth of long sunshine-filled days. The dark rocks stand out against fields shimmering in the heat and a cool, dark pond beckons. The light is bright, even blinding, and trees and flowers stand still soaking up the rays of the sun. In the sky wisps of clouds float upward.

84 x 60 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Reflections can be both the scene in front of us or musings on life. Reflections of the sun dance through water with its ripples and currents. It could be early morning or late evening inviting us to contemplate where we have been and what is to come.

72 x 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Sunset in the Mountains bursts with life. In the lower center right a fish may be diving deeper into water which ripples around it. The sun is reflected in the water and the deep purples of shadows let us know dusk is at hand. One can’t look away because in a moment, everything will change as the sun sets.

36 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

The circular shapes become the moon and moon-lit flowers or reflections in water in Blue Moon. The aura of the moon leaks into the surrounding sky and shimmers on the edges of petals of the plants. The air is languid, moist and everything seems to be reaching toward the moon.

30 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

There is the promise of abundance in both Planting Season and Orchard. The forms jostle for space and spill from the grid-like structure of the painting. This suggests an overhead view of divided fields with lines from a plow and verdant woodlands alongside. There are hints of seeds splitting open and the start of new life with tendrils of vines reaching for the sun.

48 x 44 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

There is the promise of abundance in both Planting Season and Orchard. The forms jostle for space and spill from the grid-like structure of the painting. This suggests an overhead view of divided fields with lines from a plow and verdant woodlands alongside. There are hints of seeds splitting open and the start of new life with tendrils of vines reaching for the sun.

30 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Zinnias presents us with a colorful bed of these late blooming flowers as seen from above. The riotous blooms form a dense carpet of crowded blooms and the jittery marks echo the petals vibrating in the hot breeze. This very abstracted composition becomes a story of color and marks carefully balanced in larger shapes.

36 x 24 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

A trip to Yellowstone and closer to home, the mountains of North Carolina, inspire Mist Rising. The geological forces of geysers, waterfalls and roaring rivers leave an impression of awe. From dark canyons and river beds one can hike to dizzying heights with the sound of water ever present. The rock faces of mountains come in astonishing arrays of color and shapes and I am constantly reaching down to pick up a small rock to hold in my hand for a time as part of my memory of a place.

36 x 24 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Rock Slide shows a favorite memory of sliding down smooth rocks in a rushing stream. The Appalachian Mountains feature these places where a slide off of rock lands one in a chilly pool of deep water for a refreshing dip on hot summer days. A climb along the warm bank is preparation for another cold plunge.

36 x 24 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

A trip to Yellowstone and closer to home, the mountains of North Carolina, inspire Canyon. The geological forces of geysers, waterfalls and roaring rivers leave an impression of awe. From dark canyons and river beds one can hike to dizzying heights with the sound of water ever present. The rock faces of mountains come in astonishing arrays of color and shapes and I am constantly reaching down to pick up a small rock to hold in my hand for a time as part of my memory of a place.

48 x 40 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Cowpasture River takes its name from a pristine river that flows through western Virginia. One of the cleanest rivers in America it runs through pristine forests and along a few remaining small farms. Floating along the river in an inner tube is the best way to experience this beautiful part of The Blue Ridge Mountains. Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass, Muskies and Redbreast Sunfish are all present in the river. The painting suggests the water swirling across rocks as we float along gazing at the bottom of the clear river.

36 x 24 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Calf Pasture River I and II show a tributary of The Maury River in Virginia. This is a wonderful river for swimming, wading and tubing. Stretches of the river are rated I - III for whitewater kayaking. The slashing marks of these paintings show the churn and whirl of fast moving water.

36 x 24 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

In Ocean Spray it is the impact of water against rock and wind against water that inform the marks on the canvas. The whip of a wave in heavy wind creates its own little band of weather made of mist and spray. Our eyes are drawn to these fleeting but compelling events. The drama of a wave being broken by the jagged edge of land is something we can watch over and over again. How high will the spray go above the top of the cliff, how much further will the surf push its way amongst the rocks?

48 × 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Summer Pond I and II are depictions of my own small fish ponds holding fish I have had for several years along with aquatic plants and a resident frog or two. The light from the sky is reflected in the water and a shimmering effect is created by the ripples caused by small fountains.

48 × 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Summer Pond I and II are depictions of my own small fish ponds holding fish I have had for several years along with aquatic plants and a resident frog or two. The light from the sky is reflected in the water and a shimmering effect is created by the ripples caused by small fountains.

43 × 43 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Sail Away depicts a day of brilliant sunshine with the horizon line meeting the water in a haze of light. Several small boats bob on the currents of both water and wind. We can hear the water slap against the hull of the boats and the cries of birds that circle, waiting for a free meal.

48 × 72 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Blue Note celebrates my love of the color blue. It is the color of the sky and the ocean, of phlox and bluebirds. It reminds me of our beautiful, fragile but resilient planet. On a more personal note it has hints of figures frolicking in waves at the beach, one of my happiest memories of growing up.

60 x 84 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Wave is a perfect crescendo of motion as the marks rise and fall across this large canvas. We are swept from left to right buoyed by water and bathed in light. The forms roll back on one another and emerge energized. The cool blues moving from bottom left and up into the center top are held back by another strong counterforce of blue in the lower right. The gray and ochre areas provide quiet passages where the eye can rest.

43 × 43 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Distant Clouds race across the sky with bands of showers in the distance. Weather in the mountains can be localized with one valley having rain and another bright sun. Farmers and gardeners when gathering at a farm market or plant nursery always inquire of one another, “How much rain did you get in the last storm.” Everyone has a rain gauge and keeps careful track of this information and is happy to converse about the subject.

72 x 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Tide Pools I and II are a joyous celebration of time spent along the coast of Maine. On warm days at low tide the pools of water left stranded amongst rocks leave a warm place for swimming. These paintings show the return of the tide with water slapping against the rocks, filling the cove with water. On fine days the sea is dark and the surf glistens with light as it meets the coastline.

72 x 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Tide Pools I and II are a joyous celebration of time spent along the coast of Maine. On warm days at low tide the pools of water left stranded amongst rocks leave a warm place for swimming. These paintings show the return of the tide with water slapping against the rocks, filling the cove with water. On fine days the sea is dark and the surf glistens with light as it meets the coastline.

36 x 24 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

In Surf it is the impact of water against rock and wind against water that inform the marks on the canvas. The whip of a wave in heavy wind creates its own little band of weather made of mist and spray. Our eyes are drawn to these fleeting but compelling events. The drama of a wave being broken by the jagged edge of land is something we can watch over and over again. How high will the spray go above the top of the cliff, how much further will the surf push its way amongst the rocks?

48 x 44 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Gull I and Gull II came as a result of an autumn trip to The Outer Banks. Fall is hurricane season and while we enjoyed fair weather an approaching storm brought dark, angry seas with strong currents and crashing waves. The water was mystical with its colors of black, teal and green and the gulls were stymied in their search for fish hidden in murky waves. The air was charged and the entire scene was one of drama and excitement.

48 x 44 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Gull I and Gull II came as a result of an autumn trip to The Outer Banks. Fall is hurricane season and while we enjoyed fair weather an approaching storm brought dark, angry seas with strong currents and crashing waves. The water was mystical with its colors of black, teal and green and the gulls were stymied in their search for fish hidden in murky waves. The air was charged and the entire scene was one of drama and excitement.

43 × 43 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Harbor in Fog shows a cove with various fishing boats. This is a familiar scene in Maine when the fog begins to lift revealing numerous boats where only a moment before everything was hidden in the mist. The abstract shapes of black and white push against one another reinforcing the tension of boats displacing water.

48 x 44 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Cliff Walk has both a vertiginous view down toward the water beneath jagged points of a cliff and a view out toward the horizon. The sky is active and meets the sea in a miasma of mist and water. The sun peeping out hints at clear skies to come. This painting is perhaps about facing our fears and knowing that good things are ahead.

48 x 44 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Tide Coming In depicts the dramatic swell of water forced against a cliff and spilling onto a sandy and rocky beach. The water swirls and churns beneath a sky that threatens rain. In my own life periods of relative calm can be interrupted by just such disruptive tides but troubles will recede just like the tide.

36 x 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Storm Coming is a favorite painting of the Maine coastline. The distant horizontal marks of the sea meet the verticals of rain lashing against the water and distant islands. Nearer to shore the sea is dark as it fills the tidal pools and butts against the rocks falling back on itself to gather strength for the next strike. This is nature in full power and beauty.

48 x 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Morning Light reminds us to greet each day as an adventure. We begin anew with fresh energy, lots of ideas and a clean slate. Savored over a cup of coffee, sunrise is one of my favorite times of day.

48 x 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

After the Rain is a depiction of the dense blues and greens that follow a week of August rain. The summer drought colors of gold and brown are vanquished and summer reasserts itself. We can imagine the last drops of water still hanging on the tips of vegetation.

48 x 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Passage can represent a literal path through the landscape or an interior journey making a transition from one part of life to another. There are diagonal lines throughout the painting that suggest movement and even upheaval but the cool blues and greens give respite and hope to our journey.  Shapes suggest shade with serene places to rest after our efforts.

36 × 24 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Hillside Garden is a gestural painting with our eye being led up a hill covered in wildflowers. It is summer and we can glimpse rabbits and if we are lucky, the elusive fox who will stare at us for a moment before disappearing. Ample rain has turned everything green and the mountains carry mist blurring the line between and land and sky.

36 × 24 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Pond Garden has trees and flowers waving in a breeze as we walk toward a small pond shimmering with light. We can hear the one note gong of a frog and see fish flitting to the surface to feed. The sky is hazy and the horizon is indistinct in the glare of light.

36 × 24 inches, Oil on Canvas

Rolling Hills allows the viewer to look down at the wildflowers underfoot and also to scan upwards to where hills meet the distant horizon. Large areas of color are punctuated by slashes suggesting foliage or bands of fields. The scene is alive with motion as stalks wave in the breeze.

72 x 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Cocktail Hour is a large painting of the drama in a garden as the sun begins drop in the late afternoon. It is the hour when we pause our labors of the day to sit and watch the shift of light moving across the lawn like a spotlight highlighting this plant and that as each takes a star turn in the landscape. We are reminded to savor these moments and the friends with whom we share a convivial beverage.

60 × 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Woodland Walk invites us to find shade on a hot day of summer. Wildflowers spread across the path and brush against our legs as we pass into the cool darkness beneath large trees.

48 x 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

September Garden has light shining through the trees as the sun begins to dip lower in the sky. The dark areas of shadow form a pattern that shifts and vibrates against the lighter greens. Late blooming flowers are lit as if from within. The lush greens of summer are still with us but we know to savor this moment before fall comes.

44 x 46 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

During the Pandemic I was captivated by the beauty of a singer in Italy who came to his balcony each evening to serenade the neighbors who gathered on their balconies to hear the nightly song. In Love Songs from the Balcony, spiral shapes suggest musical notes on a page along with the travel of sound winding its way through the narrow street.  They can also be the iron railings of the balconies where families gathered to share this gift of connection in a time of isolation.  It can be any of us who are looking to build and solidify friendships through our gifts of talent, time and most of all, love.

48 × 44 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Driving into Town is my love affair with beautiful villages. We have all experienced these towns that welcome us with pleasing streetscapes and tiny parks, local restaurants and shops and churches of all denominations. Shapes suggest buildings, playing fields, walkways and paths and a sense of connectedness.

60 × 48 inches, Oil and Oil Stick on Canvas

Afternoon Ramble takes us along a wooded path to a ford across a large creek. The circle shapes can be read as trees, rocks and flowers, shorthand for the things that we encounter on the walk. The painting features areas of shade and sunlight and we feel enclosed and protected by this landscape. Alternately, the shapes can be read as musical notes giving us the sounds of birds, rustling leaves and rushing water.

30 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Evening Flowers depicts the luminescent glow that blossoms take on in early evening. They seem to retain the warmth and light of the sun and bob in the twilight like the nearby fireflies. If we are lucky, our own memories light us from within like a strand of lights or rosary beads where we can count none but the happy hours.

60 x 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

In Canyon Sunrise we see cool, dark shadows on the left, echoed by the deep blue of the sky. The rock face presents a formidable wall before us but we can begin to pick out paths upward from the grassy plateau at the bottom of the painting. Another patch of green near the horizon promises a resting place after our exertions. We sense that the dark shadows will shift throwing different areas into shadow as the day progresses. Like life, our climb will feature gentle walks broken by patches of extreme challenge and exertion.

30 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Some days have such beautiful skies, lush fields and colorful blossoms that I call them “good to be alive” days. Blue Sky shows late summer as fields are beginning to turn gold and the Zinnias and Sunflowers and other late showy blooms are in their glory. There is the promise of a good harvest, fair weather and abundance. The flowers seem animated as they reach out to greet one another.

44 x 40 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

February I and II are love poems. The icy hues of winter are being broken open by signs of growth and the heart shapes suggest both leaves and symbols of love we associate with Valentine’s Day. The spirals of green can be ferns or tendrils or even gates thrown open to both our hearts and our gardens. Red pulses through the paintings adding the staccato of a heartbeat and the pink of a cupid.

44 x 40 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

February I and II are love poems. The icy hues of winter are being broken open by signs of growth and the heart shapes suggest both leaves and symbols of love we associate with Valentine’s Day. The spirals of green can be ferns or tendrils or even gates thrown open to both our hearts and our gardens. Red pulses through the paintings adding the staccato of a heartbeat and the pink of a cupid.

36 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Evening Walk I shows two figures out for a companionable stroll in the landscape. They blend in with the trees and other plants while the moon rises overhead. It is a peaceful, happy scene full of light and promise.

36 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Path to The Garden I and II can let us imagine standing on a path looking down at our feet. Our eyes can then scan upward in the center of the paintings to take in the flowers, large and abundant, shimmering and waving in the breeze. We can imagine bees humming and sense the swoop of birds. Continuing upward, we can make out the distant hills, barely visible above the lush vegetation and the sky with its rays of light peeking from behind clouds.

36 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Path to The Garden I and II can let us imagine standing on a path looking down at our feet. Our eyes can then scan upward in the center of the paintings to take in the flowers, large and abundant, shimmering and waving in the breeze. We can imagine bees humming and sense the swoop of birds. Continuing upward, we can make out the distant hills, barely visible above the lush vegetation and the sky with its rays of light peeking from behind clouds.

36 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

May is a celebratory painting. The flowers strain upward, crowding and shoving as they compete to reach the sunlight. The sky is bright and fields sparkle with reflected light. May is the month of Mother’s Day and Memorial Day Weekend, times of celebration and remembrance, long days and the anticipation of summer.

Tempest I, 36 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Tempest I and II show the dance of air and water. I can feel the wind whip the hair across my face. Being outside on a beach or in a boat in a storm can be harrowing and dangerous but also awe-inspiring and unforgettable. The sea and air often take on a greenish tint and the dark clouds are echoed in the water.

36 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Tempest I and II show the dance of air and water. I can feel the wind whip the hair across my face. Being outside on a beach or in a boat in a storm can be harrowing and dangerous but also awe-inspiring and unforgettable. The sea and air often take on a greenish tint and the dark clouds are echoed in the water.

62 x 49 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Moonlight captures all of the awe and mystery of a landscape lit by a moon as clouds pass in front of it and things are concealed and revealed in turn. I associate being outside at night with the hoots of owls calling and responding, with coyotes and foxes announcing themselves and bears quietly lumbering through our property. The sweeping compositional marks dissolve into quiet passages then reemerge to gather speed. Lightning bugs, shooting stars and a strong breeze are all present as we make our way along our moonlit path.

84 x 60 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Spring Equinox shows us spring in full bloom with turbulent clouds, freshly plowed fields and trees leafing out. The varied greens of new leaves in shades of olive, celery and mint contact to the deep more even greens of midsummer.

36 x 24 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

In Heavy Seas I and II the subtle mix of neutral colors acts as a counterpoint to the drama of the subject. At first glance perhaps things look balanced and serene; the even march of black areas, the organic patches of ochre at the top and the careful divisions of grays through the center. But look again and the suggestion of a boat may become apparent. Suddenly the black shapes can become rocks threatening the boat. The yellow ochre is a menacing cloud mass and the gray-blues become the color of the sea on a stormy day. Patches of light in the top and lower portions of the paintings offer an idea that the weather will change, the sea will calm and the boat will slip away from danger.

78 x 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

As I have gardened over many years I increasingly appreciate perennials. All winter these plants hide away from us, gathering strength before pushing upward as the earth warms.  Perennial Garden II shows these plants in full bloom - some stretch to 6 feet tall or more.  We see a distant storm on the horizon promising rain to come and scattered throughout are the rocks that are the only markers of the location of these plants when winter returns. I too gather strength during the winter months where I have interrupted time to paint, read and peruse seed catalogues.

30 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Walk Through the Medina comes from a trip to Morocco and the sum of sensations in the crowded markets of every town. There is the green of the ever-present mosque, the deep blues of the pottery and tiles, the red of extravagant carpets and shawls and the golds of the spices arrayed in sacks. The deep colors vibrate against one another recreating the jostle and cries of vendors and patrons, donkeys and motorbikes. The white-washed walls hold everything in place protecting everyone from the hot sun and potential invaders.

48 × 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

My joy in having a garden is palpable. I have a couple of fish ponds, one in an old bath tub, at least two resident frogs and a host of birds who visit to drink water. The winding paths suggest a journey through the landscape and the exuberant colors reflect my own happiness with life.

48 × 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Shadow of The Mountain uses triangles, rectangles and circles to depict a dramatic sunrise or perhaps sunset with deep shadows cast by the mountains. The farm buildings in the distance catch the light and the fields have orchards, varied crops and flowers. The vivid colors bring a sense of joy and celebration to the scene and reference the Nabi, French painters whose bold simplified style acted as a bridge from Impressionism to to Modernism. They included Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard who believed that art was a synthesis of symbols and metaphors created by the artist.

44 x 46 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Mid morning is a time of activity for most of us. The abstract shapes jostle against one another suggesting movement and high energy. We can read marks as water, mountains, gardens, sailboats, stairs and a variety of other possibilities. The larger calm areas of blue and cream perhaps suggest calm sailing in the afternoon after an intense morning.

50 x 50 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Walking with John is a record of time spent with my son. The landscape contains hints of his gregarious nature but also his serious side. It tells of experiences with a loved one in different seasons and in various places. Pathways, like life, meander gently in places and in other places take a sharp turn. John loves to travel and the painting shows great expanses of terrain that have been traversed and suggests that his journey is not over.

40 x 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

March comes in like a lion with wind sweeping across barren fields and clouds promising rain scuttle across the sky creating patches of sunlight and shadow. Trees are beginning to green up but cold nights are still with us. There is a hint of things to come in the warm rust and pink passages.

72 x 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

In September I & II a vast landscape is opening up as vegetation begins to turn and the maples are in their glory. The light is blinding as it glints off of rocks and fields. The distant horizon shows movement and the promise of cooler days to come. This large painting with its timeless view of the shifting seasons reminds me that my own time on this earth is part of a larger continuum.

72 x 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

In September I & II a vast landscape is opening up as vegetation begins to turn and the maples are in their glory. The light is blinding as it glints off of rocks and fields. The distant horizon shows movement and the promise of cooler days to come. This large painting with its timeless view of the shifting seasons reminds me that my own time on this earth is part of a larger continuum.

30 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Measure is on first glance a very abstract painting but I invite you to “take measure” and look more closely. One could be looking down into water with a school of fish, rocks and seaweed but could it also be skeletons of leaves and outlines of rocks revealed in snow? Or, are we looking at the jetsam of shells, and a mermaid’s purse revealed at low tide?

48 x 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Paris Balcony I and II are variations of the same theme. The spirals of balcony railings, a riff on Matisse paintings from the south of France, overhang suggested gardens with gravel paths and flower beds. Trees in bloom and scattered leaves add more gentle color to the landscape.  This is la vie en rose with its promise of finding true love.

48 x 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Paris Balcony I and II are variations of the same theme. The spirals of balcony railings, a riff on Matisse paintings from the south of France, overhang suggested gardens with gravel paths and flower beds. Trees in bloom and scattered leaves add more gentle color to the landscape.  This is la vie en rose with its promise of finding true love.

48 x 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Behind the Chateau: France abounds with beautifully restored Chateaux from Paris to the Dordogne. The hues of rock and plaster walls vary but there is always a garden carefully laid out with great precision.  Vegetation is kept in careful check through pruning, raking and lining the paths with stones or low hedges. Trees overhang benches inviting us to sit with our friends for a moment before we move through the grounds.

36 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Paris Walk: Paris is a city of parks, small and large and trees line streets and parts of the river. Courtyards are private gardens where cars share space with ancient trees and pots of flowers. All of this is referenced in this painting that imagines us strolling in the gray-blue twilight in search of a tiny restaurant offering oysters and crisp white wine.

48 x 40 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Through the Orchard: I live in a part of Virginia with hillsides of apple and peach orchards. When the peach orchards explode with every shade of pink in the spring many artists in the area can be found painting or photographing the hillsides. The large spiral shapes can be paths or the tops of ladders pressed against the trunks of trees later in the season. The hillside is always busy with farm equipment, trailers of bees brought in to help pollinate the trees and workers pruning trees and harvesting fruit.

48 x 72 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Water and Wind is an ambitious effort to capture the majesty and awe of wind whipping water. It is a spectacle I have studied at beaches in the south, along the shoreline of Maine and on reservoirs closer to home. The flat divisions of sky, land or water hold the composition together as the swirl of marks spiral and shimmy across the canvas.

48 x 43 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Botany Lesson I and II are packed with references to both science and gardening. A double helix harks back to the studies of Carl Linnaeus and his system for the naming of plants and Gregor Mendel’s principles of inherited traits gained from studying pea plants. There is a suggestion of a blackboard with the oil stick marks taking on the characteristics of chalk.  Plants crowd the bottom of the painting like so many pupils sitting in a lecture hall. The divisions of black and white areas provide structure and stability to these complex works.

48 x 43 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Botany Lesson I and II are packed with references to both science and gardening. A double helix harks back to the studies of Carl Linnaeus and his system for the naming of plants and Gregor Mendel’s principles of inherited traits gained from studying pea plants. There is a suggestion of a blackboard with the oil stick marks taking on the characteristics of chalk.  Plants crowd the bottom of the painting like so many pupils sitting in a lecture hall. The divisions of black and white areas provide structure and stability to these complex works.

48 x 72 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Early June Garden has a frieze-like composition with the poppy blooms lined up across the large canvas. A spiral iron fence provides structure and seems to be holding the poppies in their place in the garden but look again and in the lower right one bloom has burst through the fence to invite us to touch, smell and perhaps pick. In the upper band new unopened blooms  let us know that the season for these flowers is long. The soft color palette further serves to flatten and abstract the circular and spiral forms.

43 x 43 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Asiatic Lilies is an attempt to capture these stately, spear-like blooms that rise up to six feet tall in my garden. They have a beautiful fragrance and long stamens and demand attention once they bloom. Here we see them swaying in the breeze, reaching toward the sun and brushing one another with tender, soft fingers.

48 x 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Peach Rhapsody is a buoyant, exuberant painting. The pink blossoms of the fruit trees fill the sky while the fruit is growing and ripening on the lower branches. The air is languid and one can almost hear the hum of bees. I live near acres of peach orchards and make a yearly pilgrimage out to admire the blooms which herald the arrival of spring.

43 x 43 iinches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Garden Plan references my love of drawings of gardens with carefully laid out paths, color coded indications of plant selections and existing trees. In this plan, neatly divided beds give way to more natural chaotic areas of the landscape. Plans can also refer to my ideas during cold winter days as I peruse seed and plant catalogues and make big plans for next year. My ideas always meet hard reality when the preparation of planting beds begins.

30 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

In Big woods I and II, which can act as a diptych, have orderly rows of marks at the bottom and top, a vocabulary of sorts. We understand the shapes to represent flowers and other plants and at the top, rays of the sun. In the center the marks overlap and crowd one another to form a dense mass of trees. The three bands of color flatten the picture surface while at the same time invite us to wonder what is behind those woods.

30 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

In Big woods I and II, which can act as a diptych, have orderly rows of marks at the bottom and top, a vocabulary of sorts. We understand the shapes to represent flowers and other plants and at the top, rays of the sun. In the center the marks overlap and crowd one another to form a dense mass of trees. The three bands of color flatten the picture surface while at the same time invite us to wonder what is behind those woods.

60 x 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

City at Night is a bit of a departure from my usual verdant landscapes. I love my life surrounded by nature but relish visits to a vibrant city. New York, Paris, Rome, Istanbul and London all inspire me with their museums, galleries, lit up shops but especially the waterways that course through all of these places. The bridges spanning the dark sheen of water provide the best viewpoints of these special places.

48 x 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Jimmy Plants the Garden I has carefully divided bands of color. The plants march across the canvas, vines wind upward and blooms of plants provide a vivid staccato against the cool greens. In the top distant mountains and sky look over the scene of abundance.  My husband is a keen gardener and provides much of our food. He is a tall, serene man and the painting is a depiction of his personality as much as his beautiful garden.

44 x 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

September Afternoon retains the pulsing heat of midsummer but the grasses are beginning to dry and the colors of fall are upon us. The sky has the dazzle of light with some of the deep blue of Autumn days. I this a time to soak in the last rays of summer and prepare for the harvest season.

74 x 73 inches, Mixed Media On Canvas

Long View is a large painting that gives us a vista of full, lush summer. There is lightness and tranquility in the lower fields but the sky is alive with what may be a suggestion of heat lightning or the last rays of the sun. We sense the careful neat fields of farms and perhaps the first lights on in a distant hamlet already in shadow from the mountains beyond.

36 x 24 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Island Song may have come from some wishful thinking on my part as the tropical feel of this painting emerged from the marks on the canvas. It evokes dark palms against a hot tropical sky surrounded by lush vegetation. Cool shady spots invite us to come sit and listen to the rhythm of ocean tides and the clack of the palm leaves. It transported me from the gray winter of Virginia to a warmer place.

36 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Nightfall at the Reservoir came after a kayaking evening in late summer when darkness fell quickly and stars appeared overhead as we pulled the kayaks out of the water. The last light of day was held by the water along with reflected points of light from the stars.

44 x 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Mountains at Dawn is a familiar theme, one I return to over and over. The light leaking into the sky also spills across the fields while mountains remain in shadow. Everyday is different depending on time of year and weather conditions but here we see early spring with trees beginning to leaf out and flowers pushing up around us. A lone pine casts a shadow on the field and red clay furrowed rows of crops have been planted.

48 x 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Out for a Walk contains many personal but universal references. There is a daughter with a new baby in the upper right and to her left a classical facade so common in Virginia but also in most major cities in Europe and the east coast of the US. I was a great one for taking my children to see architecture on vacation trips; they used to call it the ABC tour; Another Big Church. We see the influence of Matisse in the iron fencing in the center from the “another tour of a museum” part of our travels. A door near the bottom is open and a figure walks past toward a path while another in dark clothing looks on. The mother figure in white fades into the background as she watches her children confidently move away and into their own lives.

48 x 72 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

In Lake, sailboats race their way across the water. The wind tosses the clouds, the tops of trees and the flowers. Everything is in motion in the brisk air. Light glints off of the water and breaks through the trees and the sunlight in the sky promises clear sailing. Discovery, possibility and joy are themes of this work.

48 x 72 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Hiking in Yellowstone is a record of a trip in early summer to Yellowstone park. There was still abundant snow on the ground on north facing slopes but the wildflower bloom was having a record year. Fallen logs create an abstract pattern as they are revealed as the snow melts.  The land is alive with animals; wolves with their scampering cubs, Bison moving calves toward grass and bears herding cubs as they gorge on vegetation.

60 x 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Summer Solstice shows us the longest day of the year and the earth quivers with heat and light and energy. The sun is slow to set and the mountains are dark against the still-light sky. Trees wave and dance and flowers pick up the colors of the sun.

43 x 43 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Blueberry Bushes is an exuberant celebration of blueberry season when we take our buckets to fill with berries for pies, jam or just eating as we pick. It is full summer and light glints off of rocky hillsides and silvery grasses. We could be on a cliff in Maine or a field in Virginia but the air is warm and we are content. The slashing strokes suggest the fruit laden branches shaped by prevailing winds.

43 x 43 inches, Mixed Media On Canvas

Northern Light is part of a large series of Bird Migration paintings. The motion throughout is suggestive of the lift and spin of flocks of birds. The colors of the work suggest that the birds are our winter visitors, the ones that perch our feeders and rustle amongst fallen leaves and bent grass. The air is astringent and invigorating and exhorts us to take a walk outdoors.

36 x 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Trees In Bloom shows a hillside with suggestions of farm outbuildings, a silo and houses. The trees, many with white blossoms are dense on the land suggesting an orchard of apple trees.

36 x 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Spring Field has an underlying structure of a grid with 9 subtle divisions of space. The three center boxes lead our eye back toward the horizon while the side panels suggest the crowd of lush vegetation.

43 x 43 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Looking Across the Blue Ridge on first glance reads as an abstract series of vibrant marks dancing across the canvas. The horizontal bands give stability to the vigorous depiction of what at second glance can be read as foliage. As we move our eye up from the bottom the marks decrease in size to give an illusion of perspective with things receding toward the sky.  Air, light and motion are all depicted in as loose a way as possible.

30 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Magnolia is a fever dream of heady fragrance and gaudy blooms. There is nothing subtle about this plant except for the translucent creamy color of the petals. Magnolias are pollinated by beetles as these prehistoric trees pre-date the arrival of butterflies and bees.

30 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Peonies is a response to the improbably large and lush blooms of the peony. The heavy heads nod with a drowsy air and crowd together as they open. They often start out with bright color that fades to a pale pink punctuated by bright accents and yellow stamen.

43 x 43 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Early Spring Hillside is awash in the tender mint and lime greens of new growth. The sun sparkles on fields that are being plowed and muddy paths speak of recent rain. This is an optimistic depiction of fertility, new life and the stir of activity celebrating winter’s end. This painting represents memories of children being born and nurtured.

36 x 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Water View gives us a birds eye view of a harbor with docks and boardwalks, fish shacks and tidal pools. There is tension between abstraction and realism that lets each viewer bring their own memories of time spent on the water into play.

48 x 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Iris in the Breeze is a color story with marks of dark blue dissolving into a field of lighter blues, all lit by golden yellow-greens. Blue flags as these are sometimes called are an early spring bloom and were traditionally planted around mailboxes on rural roads. They don’t need much watering, the deer don’t bother them and they can grow in poor soil. They make excellent ‘pass-along’ plants when divided.

43 x 43 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Change of Season has a sharp contrast between the heavy, dark rocks and jagged tree and the soft fields around them. The sky hints at clouds bringing a storm and cooler air is moving in beneath them. One can imagine the same scene with snow outlining the fence, the trees and the rocks and the rest covered in white.

76 x 79 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Late Summer is hanging in my own office brightening my day and my life. The turquoise, pale lavenders and contrasting yellows are knitted together with precision to provide a bird’s eye view of a mountainous landscape. Fields carpet the hillsides and streams course throughout.

48 x 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Daybreak shows great contrast in the use of both marks and color. The vivid sky with sharp rays of sunlight breaking across the horizon is echoed in the rocks that move across the painting. In between, fields and trees are in subtle variations of closely toned colors and gentle strokes of the brush and oil sticks. We sense fog or mist rising in the center of the painting obscuring and revealing as it wafts skyward.

84 × 60 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Mothers Daughters Sisters is a family portrait. It shows a group of women in various gestures of reaching out both to one another and toward perhaps a task of some kind. A heavy or awkward thing that needs to be moved can be done using the old adage that many hands make light work. It shows connection, tenderness and resiliency, all traits of the women in my life.

72 × 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Studio is a very personal exploration of my own studio. Light raking across a large canvas leaves shadows. My own arms also cast shadows as I work across the composition and these are also recorded. It is open to interpretation and could be a self-portrait or an interior of a studio or even be read as an abstract painting.

36 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Chic Paris apartments have beautiful chandeliers and wall sconces, balconies, iron elevators and floors of tile, inlaid wood and stone. The colors include the blue evening light of the city, the stone exteriors of the buildings and, of course, champagne. Is that a glass of bubbly we are peering into at the top of the painting?

36 x 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Trees at Night contains some of my fondest memories of warm summer evenings spent at rustic camps. The calls of owls and insects, sounds of water tumbling over rock and distant indistinct conversations fill the air. Fireflies and stars fill the night sky. The trees themselves have a moonlit look and spread their embracing arms about our camp. The painting has elements of the motion of creatures large and small in the busy sequences of marks but retains an air of security and calm by the use of a muted color palette.

43 x 43 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

June Morning is thick with paint suggesting morning mist rising from fields being warmed by the sun. The horizon draws your eye toward the sky with streaks of pink light that echo the blooms of the plants.

43 x 43 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

43 x 43 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Clear Tomorrow shows the aftermath of a storm, the ‘pink sky at night, sailors delight’ kind of evening. The wind is moving off, the sky is clearing, birds are flying out to repair their nests and we are out clearing branches from the yard.

60 x 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Windy Day forms a grid of 9 blocks giving a firm structure to this riot of color and marks. The thrilling colors of the changing leaves is giving way to the cool palette of winter and the wind is bringing brisk cool air.

30 x 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

October Maples envelopes us like a warm blanket. The trees are crisp with fall foliage and the land is taking on the quiet hues of winter. It is a cozy time of gathering around fire pits, turning on lamps in the evening and snuggling up for the winter.

36 x 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Leaves in the Stream presents a shallow creek in autumn with leaves that have settled to the bottom and others still floating on the surface. Shafts of light find the rocks lining the stream bed and the leaves feel lit from within. The warm colors offer little hint as to how cold the water would be at this time of year.

72 x 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Planetary Alignment imagines the spiraling paths of the planets as they line up to give astrologers and astronomers information. We are both observers and participants as our own planet charts its course through the universe. There is a hazy, dreamlike feel with shapes shifting and dissolving as we float through the painting.

60 x 60 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Iris is almost a botanical study in its careful attention to detail. The deep rich purples are in contrast to the warm yellow and soft greens of the background. Dark purple spears of buds rise amidst white iris just beginning to open.

48 x 36 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Poppies with Garden Hose is a bit of a tease with the garden hose resembling a snake given away only by its bright teal color. Opium Poppies, coleus, echinacea and California Poppies weave together to form a dense garden bed. It is a riotous mix of plants with a peep of distant lawn in the top right corner.

78 x 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Flower Fields draws our eye from warm fields with scattered tulips across a vast vista of mountains and upward into a busy sky with fast moving clouds. The staccato rhythm of marks at the bottom gives way to gentle shapes and colors through the center of the painting. The action picks up again in the sky with its crackling energetic strokes.

36 × 30 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Two Black Chairs shows my own table and chairs with a painting on a wall between two narrow windows. The dark pattern of the table and of the chairs stands in contrast to the soft light of the exterior and the luminous glow of an interior lit by bright daylight. The plants on the table also feature in the collage Amaryllis and Cactus.

48 x 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

LA was painted following a visit to Los Angeles. My friend and I went to a rooftop bar in Santa Monica to enjoy the sunset and a view of the coastline can be seen in the upper left as it bends toward Malibu. The air is suffused with golden light and deep shadows are cast by the royal palms. The ubiquitous cars line the street in the lower part of the painting.  

60 x 84 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Falling Leaves is a large painting and can be either leaves wafting through the air or perhaps floating in water. There is a sense of calm with the cool greens and blues but the rhythm of shapes suggests a staccato beat. This is an enveloping work, one that invites contemplation on the ephemeral nature of all life.

40 x 48 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Leslie’s Garden is a love song to my most talented gardening friend. I have passed many happy hours wandering the paths and enjoying the benches in this beautiful hillside eden.  Statuary, a rippling brook, urns, a knot garden and a chippendale bridge enliven the journey through the landscape.

60 x 84 inches, Mixed Media on Canvas

Cows in The Snow was inspired by both a winter spent in high mountains amidst a herd of cows and by Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s The Hunters in the Snow painted in 1565. The chilly blues and greens of the sky and mountains contain hints of warm golden light from the sunrise that promises to warm the huddled animals at the bottom of the painting. The animals have turned to gaze at the viewer perhaps in expectation of some hay. One animal searches a depression for melted water as the pond in the distance is frozen. It is the practice in cold winter to drop bales of hay far away from where the herd has gathered to get them up and moving to get warm.